Artemis Fowl: The Warriors of Skaro
by The God of Ink
Summary: A mysterious space object means trouble for Artemis and his fairy friends. What is it? Where are the strange signals coming from? And who is the mystreious "Doctor"?
1. Prologue

Artemis Fowl:

The Warriors of Skaro

Prologue: A brief history of near-death adventures

In the sixteen years that have been his life, Artemis Fowl the Second has achieve a reputation many men strive their whole lives to amass. A reputation that stretches across the world, and indeed, under it. By the time he was five, he had published numerous medical papers and philosophical doctorates. By the age of seven, he had patented a total of 37 inventions. And by the age of ten, he had amassed a total fortune of over five billion U.S dollars. But that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Artemis Fowl was not your usual child prodigy. Then again, child prodigies don't usually have crime kingpins for fathers. The Fowl family was one of the biggest criminal families in the world, with entire generations comprised of thieves, schemers, and crooks. It came with no doubt that Artemis soon became the most successful of the Fowls, surpassing even his father, Artemis Sr. But that was soon to change.

Mister Fowl had had intentions, years ago, to walk on the straight and narrow. This led him into conflict with the Russian Mafiya, after he tried to bring business into their territory. The Fowl Star set sail for the Bay of Kola, and she never came home.

It was at that moment the story of Artemis Fowl truly begins. Thrust into the real world and his family's empire crumbling around his knees, Artemis set out to restore the Fowl fortune with the most ingenious, and possibly most dangerous, crime of all; kidnap a fairy, and ransom it back to its own people.

But the fairies that little Arty sought to find were no medieval relic. They were a highly advanced, multi-species civilization, stock with big guns and bad attitudes. And it was bad luck that our hero kidnapped one Captain Holly Short, of the LEPrecon police force. But despite all this, he pulled it off, becoming the first human to ever cheat a fairy out of its gold.

Since that faithful night, the lives of Artemis and his companion, Butler, have been interwoven with that of Captain Short and her fellow fairies. In a short span of time, they have quelled rebellions, stopped heinous villains, and beaten impossible odds. They rescued Artemis Sr. from the hands of the Mafiya, traveled to Limbo to save demons, and leapt across the time stream.

It would be foolish to say that these experiences did not change Artemis. Once a boy of almost emotionless malice, he is now a warmer, kinder boy. A loving son, brother, and friend. But the truth remains; he is still a genius, possessing an intellect not seen since Einstein, and a vision not seen since Mozart.

But where there is genius, there is always someone there to exploit it.

Unknown to Artemis's friends, and indeed Artemis himself, a ruthless, ancient eye has cast its gaze upon the young genius. Hungry for power, all it needs is a mind, a great mind. A mind that can bring all its plans to realization. A mind like Artemis's…

Artemis Fowl has faced nearly ever danger on, and indeed below, the Earths surface. But can he face a threat that is not of this world at all?

(Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything from Artemis Fowl or Doctor Who. And I'm writing this at the very beginning because I find its tedious having to write this at the beginning of each chapter.)


	2. Ch1

Chapter 1:

Beneath a starry sky

Two weeks ago…

"**Now if you look to the right a bit, you can see Ursa minor." Artemis directed the telescope to the right position, and allowed Miles to peer into the eyepiece. "Do you see it?", he asked. After a minute or two, the young Fowl looked up at his older brother and smiled. "I see!" he exclaimed, as if the secrets of the Universe were written in the sky. **

**Artemis smiled. He forgot how infectious the twin's happy attitude was. At that point, Artemis Sr. came out onto the balcony, carrying the other twin, Beckett, on his back, fast asleep. "Right," he exclaimed. "I think it's time two certain people in this household got ready for bed time." Miles rushed to his father. **

"**Daddy, come look! Arty was showing me Orsa manor!" Dragging the old man to the telescope, Artemis could not help but feel a small pang of sadness. His child hood had not been so carefree… "Stop that!", he scolded himself. There was no point in fretting about the past.**

**Fowl Sr. looked up from the telescope. "Your right, Miles. I can see it." Rousing Beckett from his sleep, he put the boy on the ground beside his brother. "Now, bed time. Go get ready and say good night to your mother." **

"**Okay, Daddy", they said simultaneously. They rushed inside, playing tag as they went. **

**Pulling up a chair, Mr. Fowl lowered himself into it with a grunt, then, pulling off his prosthetic leg, turned to his eldest son. "You know, Arty, it really makes happy seeing how much the twins look up to", he said. Artemis nodded. "I suppose I should be flattered, but I worry sometimes if I'm the best role model." **

"**Don't be. Between you and me, we'll have those boys running the world soon enough." Sharing a chuckle between them, Fowl Sr. turned his head to the sky. "Although, I have to ask. What's with the recent interest in Astronomy?"**

**Artemis felt a pang of guilt. In truth, it had been recommended to him. He had spent the last month at the J. Argon Clinic, being treated for his Atlantis Complex. After a conference with his mother, Dr. Argon decided the best course to avoid a resurgence of the complex was to have Artemis's attention focused on something else. Or in Foalys terms, "An outlet for his crazy". So he settled on astronomy.**

"**No reason," he said. "Just something to do. And I must say, it's quite relaxing, sitting out here stargazing." He swiveled the telescope towards his father. "But there's something that's been troubling me. Look there" **

**Artemis Sr. put his eye to the telescope. What he say was quite unusual. It looked like a meteor, but the colour and movement were all wrong. The elder Fowl lifted his head, and shot a quizzical look at his son. "Alright genius, what is it?" **

"**I have no idea", the genius admitted. I've cross-referenced it with every thing in the books, but nothing came up. What's more," he continued, "is that I've been picking up odd frequencies on Butlers old HAM Radio." He gestured to the device on the table next to him. "Almost as if it's sending out a hailing frequency. As if it's a vessel….." **

**Both father and son went quiet as they considered that possibility. Finally, **

"**Probably not, Arty. Might just be some interference from some satellite."**

"**Yes, probably." But as his father got up and said good night, Artemis could not help wondering if he was wrong. "Poppycock," he thought crossly. "You've been watching too much television. You'll have to get Butler to stop watching those old sci-fi movies….**

**Artemis got up, deciding it was time he turned in as well. But before he left, he could not help sneaking one last glance at the object. "What are you, really?" he wondered. **


	3. Ch2

Chapter 2:

A really long distance call

**Captain Holly Short was in a foul mood. No less than half an hour ago, she had been sleeping soundly in her bed, when her ringing phone pulled her out of dreamland. It had been Foaly.**

"**What izzit?" she had slurred, still half asleep. **

"**Get down to Police Plaza now. Council meeting's been called, and all LEP members are to attend."**

**The word "meeting" was enough to jolt her out of her stupor. "A meeting?" she asked. Who the hell called a meeting at…" she checked her clock. Bad idea. **

"**Three in the morning!" she yelled, nearly blowing out the speaker on Foalys end. There was a long silence before the centaur answered. **

"**Uhhhh, I did." Twenty minutes later, she was changed into her LEP suit and heading down to the Plaza, silently vowing to wring Foalys neck when she got there.**

**When she finally arrived to Police Plaza, Chix Verbil was waiting walking up to the door. "Morning, Captain", he half said, half yawned. "Looking good today." Holly responded by shooting him a glare that could scare a troll. He said nothing after that. **

**Holly and Chix had to run to the Plazas conference room. "Look at this", Holly fumed to herself. "No one's even here. I bet even the convicts aren't awake yet." They arrived at the conference room to find every one else already there. They took their seats and waited for Foaly to start. **

"**I'm sorry for calling this meeting on such short notice…", he began.**

"**Damn right, you should be sorry,", Commander Kelp grumbled. **

"…**But I felt that the situation demanded immediate attention." **

**Chairman Cahartez leaned forward in his seat. "What kind of immediate attention, ?" **

**Foaly motioned to one of his techies, and a holo-screen appeared in the center of the room. "At exactly 2:30 am standard time, LEP space probe _Olympus _lost contact with the Special Ops Booth here at Police Plaza." A schematic of the probe flashed on the screen. "Last readings suggest it was completing a revolution around the moon before contact was lost." Chairman Fillin, a sprite, stood up. "I think we can all assume that even your technology can't completely avoid glitches, Foaly." The centaur ground his teeth. "Yes, Chairman, but as you can see, diagnostics show that nothing was wrong with _Olympus. _Nothing should have happened. And yet….**

"…**It did, right?" Holly finished. **

**Foaly looked solemn. "Right." **

"**So what?", Kelp snorted. "One of your gadgets goes down, and you call a Priority One meeting? It probably lost power, or got hit by a Mud Man satellite. Honestly, Foaly." **

**The screen changed as Foaly turned to ht commander. "The gadget going down is not why I called the meeting, Trouble. I called the meeting because of the information the probe sent prior to loss of contact." A read-out was shown on the screen. "_Olympus _had been, for the last few days, tracking an unknown object which I assumed to be a meteor. However, the energy signals coming off it were incredible, and for some reason, the communications array was picking up a strange frequency, almost as if…." **

"**..The object was hailing your probe, correct?" A strange voice had cut Foaly off, shocking every one in the room. To Chairman Fillins' shame, he had squealed like a girl and hidden under his desk. The voice however struck Holly in a different way. It seemed familiar… **

**The projector at the back of the room produced a second holographic beam, producing a 3-D form in the shape of a fairy. No, a human! The features on the face were disconcerted, and then re-arranged themselves to form…**

"**Artemis Fowl.", Holly smiled, a bit of happy and a bit of shock. The hologram returned the smile.**

"**Who else? Don't tell me you were surprised." Foaly whinnied and stomped his hooves. **

"**Hardly. Might I ask why you chose this moment to hack my systems? Are you still mad about that e-mail thing?" **

**Much to Artemis's charagin, Foaly had thought it funny to arrange him into poses while drugged at the Argon clinic, and take photos to e-mail to all LEP officers.**

**Artemis, or the hologram of Artemis, attempted a smile. "No, Foaly. I was going to hack the Plaza's financial database and slash your precious budget…" He paused to watch the centaur flinch, "…But this seemed more important. I understand that you've been tracking a so-called 'UFO'?"  
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"**Yes, Foaly's been tracking it. What's it to you, Mud Boy?" This from Commander Kelp again. "Are we interfering with one of your top secret 'projects'?" **

"**I wish you were, Commander. No, it's not mine. I've been tracking it also, but I've worked out some calculations for its trajectory. By my estimate, it should reach Earth in approximately two days, at its given speed."**

**This shut Kelp up immediately. A silence fell over the room as everyone processed what they just heard. Finally, Holly worked up the nerve to ask the question. "Foaly, is this true?" **

**Foaly nodded, a solemn look on his face. "I was just going to tell you all that. But that's not what worries me the most." He motioned to the techies. "_Olympus _transmitted about twenty seconds of video footage before we lost her." He pressed a button on the V board that had appeared in front of him. **

**On the screen, an image of a room was being shown. It was dark, but shapes could be made out, things that looked like machinery. There was noise, too. A strange sound, like a mechanical heartbeat. Suddenly it was all blotted out by something very familiar looking… **

"**Oh, gods above…", Holly whispered. It was an eye. A wizened, yellow eye, with a bloodshot pupil and strange veins running through it. Then the voice came. A horrible, grating voice, like the buzzing of metallic wasp. **

"**DIS-CONNECT-ING ALL VIDEO CIRCUTS….**

**Then the image was lost. The lights came back on, and everyone in the room looked as though the Devil himself had appeared. "Foaly," Chairman Cahartez managed to choke out. "What in Frond's name was that?" **

**Foaly shook his head. "No idea, Chairman. All I know is that it'll be here in two days, and its landing location will be…" he consulted his laptop. "… about ten miles from Fowl Manor." This shook Artemis out of his stupor. **

"**Really? Are you sure about that?" The centaur shook his head again. Artemis closed his eyes for a second, then spoke.**

"**Well then. Given the objects current trajectory, perhaps it would be best that any research into the matter would be conducted here. It's only logical."**

"**True", Foaly admitted. He turned to face the Council. "I'd need a strike team for when it lands." **

**The members of the Council murmured amongst themselves for a minute, then; "Very well, Foaly. You'll get your strike team." Chairman Cahartez turned to the assembled police. "The strike force will deploy to Fowl Manor in one hour. The leaders will be Commander Kelp, Captain Short, and Major Luskar. Dismissed." **

**As everyone begin to get and leave to prepare for their assignment, Holly walked straight up to Foaly and the hologram of Artemis. "It seems like we need to save the world again, eh, Mud Boy?" **

"**Indeed", Artemis smiled. Then his face turned gloomy. "Holly, tell me honestly. What to you think this is?" **

**Holly thought about that for a long time. "I don't know", she said quietly. "But", she added, "They must not be the smartest buggers to mess with us." **

"**True. I just hope Butler gets home soon. He couldn't stand it if he missed an operation like this."**


	4. Ch3

Chapter 3:

The madman in the tavern

**He made for a strange sight, the man in Ducards SeaStone tavern. Seven feet tall, shaven head, Hugo Boss suit, and muscles easily the size of the barkeepers head. A man like this looked like he had no place a jovial old Irish tavern. A prison, more like it. But the man had good reason for being there. **

**He turned to glare at the young men staring at their table. "Please, Juliet.", he grunted. "Waving at them only encourages them more." **

**The girl beside him punched her brother in the shoulder. "So what? If they try anything, I'll beat them to a pulp. Besides, it's my birthday. I can do what I want." Butler took the time to smile. Juliet may be older, but she was still the same girl he grew up with. **

**Technically, it wasn't Juliet's actual birthday. Her real birthday had been a week ago, while she was touring around Mexico with her wrestling group. Butler had decided to take her out to dinner before her visit came to an end. **

**The third person at the table downed a mug of ale, then belched. "You call this a birthday? My cousin Nord had way bigger bashes than this. This is a shame to birthday tradition." Mulch Diggums turned to face Butler. "A tavern is the best choice you thought of?" By reasons Butler didn't know, Mulch had found out about Juliet's birthday, and proceeded to invite himself to the celebration. **

**Butler smiled, which on his face made the dwarf shiver. "I'm sorry. I let you pick the location next time." This to Mulch sounded like a warning, and decided to steer the conversation elsewhere. "Another round!", he shouted to the waiter. **

**The waiter didn't seem to hear, as his attention was directed to an old man at the end of the tavern. Butler noticed. "I'll be right back." He proceeded to leave the table, fully aware that Juliet and Mulch were following him.  
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**The old man who was attracting the group seemed to be in the middle of a story. "…. And then it came down, right in the middle of the clearing!", he rasped. "And those things, I never seen anything like them! They weren't human!" The tendons in Butler's neck tightened. This man wasn't drunk, nor was he lying. Something had this man scared for his life.**

**The other patrons did not share Butler's sympathy. "You've finally lost it, Geoffrey!", one jeered. "Only a mad man would believe you!", hooted another. Butler was considering jumping in when a new voice piped up. "Well, I believe him." All heads turned to a tall, skinny man sitting at the end of the bar. The stranger flashed a toothy smile. "And I can assure you, I'm definitely a mad man." **

**The audience lost interest at that point, leaving Butler, Juliet, Mulch, and the stranger with the apparently mad Geoffrey. The stranger leaned in from out of the shadows, and Butler caught a good glimpse of him. He was tall and lanky, with a long face and pronounced cheekbones. He wore a tweed jacket, suspenders, and a bow tie. His hair stuck up and out in all directions. He looked for all the world like an eccentric college professor. But that was not what unnerved Butler. It was the mans eyes. He looked about mid twenties, but his eyes looked as if he had lived for eternity. An eternity filled with pain, sorrow, and death. **

**He spoke again. "So you saw a space ship, and big metal aliens. Is that right?" Geoffrey nodded. The man reached into his pocket, and pulled out a twenty pound note. "Thanks for the info. Now, why don't you go home and get some rest. I'll pick up the tab, if you don't mind." Geoffrey nodded again, and got up to leave. When he was gone, the man sat down at the table and looked at the three people staring at him. "You believed him too, don't you?" **

**Butler motioned for Juliet and Mulch to sit down, then pulled out a chair for himself. "He wasn't lying, that's for sure. But a space ship?" Juliet punched her brother again.**

"**C'mon, big brother. You, of all people, are doubting something like this?" **

**The strange man smiled. "I like her", he said. His face grew clouded. "But we're missing the important question here; it's not _if_ they came, I have no doubt about that, but _why_ they came. What's so important here that they would risk exposing themselves? What are they up to…" **

"**Well, you've got a point", Mulch said through another mug of ale. "You are definitely a madman." **

**The man suddenly realized he still had company. "Oh, well. Not much worrying about it now." He got up and extended his hand. "Nice meeting you…?" **

"**Butler. This is my sister Juliet, and Mulch." The stranger shook all their hands. "And you?" **

**There was a twinkle in the mans eye. "I'm the Doctor. Pleased to meet you, and hope to again." And with that, the mysterious 'Doctor' got up and left. **

"**Well, he was weird.", Mulch, stating the obvious. **

**Juliet blushed a little. "I thought he was a bit cute." Both men groaned. Same old Juliet. **

**Butler checked his watch. "Well, it's been an interesting evening. Not to sound as old as I am, but what say we pack it in for the evening?" **

**Don't bother", a voice said from behind them. No, it sounded more like a growl then a voice. **

**Butler turned to see three men in over coats and hats bearing down on him. "Can I help you, gentlemen?"**

**The man on the right took tow steps, and promptly flipped over the table. The other two took out large guns, and this was when Butler felt his heart beat faster. These guns were not human, by any standards. But nor were they fairy. The nozzles seemed almost comical, as if they were eggbeaters instead of gun barrels.**

**The middle one stepped up. "Domovoi Butler?", he growled. **

**Butler stood up, hands reaching for his Sig Sauer. These people know who I am, he thought. Who are they? "Yes. That's me."**

**The middle one, obviously the leader, gave a gruff chuckle, and took off his hat and coat, motioning for the others to do so. For the first time in many years, Butler felt ice cold fear creeping up his spine. He could feel Juliet tightening up behind him, and Mulch was practically sweating anxiety.**

**These "men" were trolls. Dreadlocked, fanged, and huge. They all had odd scars around their necks, and the leader had a Gnommish symbol tattooed on his forehead. 'Eternal Death', Mulch read. **

**It was at that point the tavern went into panic. The flipped table had barely annoyed them. Brawls happened at the SeaStone all the time. But monsters with guns are a whole different matter. At that point, one brave fool tried to attack the trolls. The one on the left spun around and fired his weapon. **

**A ray of intense light shot out of the barrel, accompanied by a horrible noise. It struck the man, burning right through him and, for a brief moment, turned him translucent. Juliet had to turn away not to see his insides burning. All this happened in the time it took the troll leader to blink.**

**The leader stepped towards Butler, and leaned in. The trolls breath assaulted the poor mans nostrils as his spoke. **

"**You're coming with us, worm. All of you." **

**Mulch spoke up, needing to break his anxiety. "Well, Butler. I have to admit. You sure can pick the best place for a party."**


	5. Ch4

Chapter 4:

Manor under siege. Again.

**Holly sat beside two corporals, both of them boasting to each other about how much they could bench press. The flight to Ireland was about two hours and here she was putting up with this in the first twenty minutes. It was going to be a long trip. **

** Commander Kelp, who was sitting to her right, turned his head towards the captain. "Feeling alright, Captain Short?" Holly shrugged. "As good as I can be, sir. Hard to feel good when you're walking into something you don't know." **

** "True. But we've got all of your good karma on our side." Holly had to chuckle. Good karma, indeed. **

** Holly took another good look around the shuttle. These were LEP's finest officers sitting around her. With Commander Kelp, herself, and Foaly in the cockpit. **

**And Major Luskar. **

** Holly had to repress a shiver when her eyes fell on the officer sitting across from her. She didn't like Luskar; never had. There was something about him that made her tremble. And with good reason.**

** Horam Luskar was a first for LEP; much like Holly was the first female officer in the history of Recon, Luskar was the first goblin ever admitted to the force. Where as most fairy's got the job through magic skill and college degrees, Luskar got in with strength, street smarts, and a knack for strategy, (as by some divine reason, he was one of the few goblins with an I.Q over seventy). The Major was a born fighter, wearing his scarred hide like a badge of honor, not even bothering to cover up his mangled left eye. **

** But one thing could be said for Luskar; he was the best tracker in Retrieval. Mulch had once told Holly, "_If there's one thing criminals fear most, it's that goblin. Anyone trying to get above ground gets the same warning, 'you can run to the end of the Earth, but Major Luskar will still find ya.'"._ **

** At that point, Major Luskar turned his head, ending up looking Holly right in the eye. "Is there a problem, Captain?" His voice sounded like grating glass. Holly swallowed. **

"**Not at all, Major." The goblin snorted, puffs of smoke coming from his nostrils. **

** Holly laid back in her seat. It going to be a long trip, she thought.**

**Artemis stood on the steps outside the manor, looking at the sky. It was peaceful, being the only living thing around. The twins were tucked up in bed, and mother and father were at some convention in Dublin, meaning they weren't to be back until tomorrow night.**

**Tomorrow night, the boy thought. It was inconceivable that the fairies would be done before tomorrow night. Mother already knew about Holly and the rest, but how would he explain to father about the military circus outside his front door?**

**His worries were cut short by the noise of engines filling the air. Artemis stood up, and looked to the sky. Where there was once empty air now hovered a fairy shuttle in the process of landing. As soon as it did, LEP personnel swarmed out of the ship, setting up tents and machinery. Walking through all this madness, he spotted the three people he was looking for. **

"**You call that a perfect landing? You've crushed Beckett's flower garden." Holly turned around to smile. "I wasn't flying." **

"**Of course." **

**The elfin captain drew her friend in for a hug. "Nice seeing you again, Mud Boy." **

** "Likewise", replied Artemis. He turned to shake hands with Foaly. "As well as you, my horsy friend. And Commander Kelp, always a pleasure." Kelp grunted. **

** It was then Artemis noticed a fifth person in the group. A figure obscured by the shadows cast by the shuttle. "And who would this be?" The figure stepped out to reveal himself, and Artemis drew in a sharp breath. Standing before was a one eyed goblin, lips drawn back to reveal a vicious mockery of a smile. **

** "Major Horam Luskar, LEP Retrieval", he said, shaking the boy's hand. "And you must be the infamous Artemis Fowl." Luskar turned to Kelp. "You're right, Trouble. I probably could eat him in one bite." Holly shot the Commander a glare, which he responded to with a chuckle and a mere shrug. **

** "Well, with the touchy feely reunion crap over with," Kelp said, "let's get back to what we're really here for. Major?" Luskar straightened himself up. "Right." And with that, the two walked away. **

** Foaly trotted up to Artemis, who was paler than he usually was. "Don't mind the major, Arty. He's got that affect on most people." **

**The sound of his voice jolted Artemis back to reality. "I don't doubt it, Foaly. Might I ask why the Council sent Retrieval?" **

** Foaly shrugged. "Considering the nature of the data we received, the Chairmen thought that when the object… landed… Retrieval might be needed to contain whatever it was we saw." **

**Holly raised an eyebrow. "What? Their here to hunt aliens? Foaly, don't tell me you believe that."**

**At this, Artemis raised his eyebrow. "Most humans don't believe in fairies, and yet here you are. I find it perfectly conceivable that other life exists besides our own." **

** "And it's perfectly conceivable that they would hijack a fairy satellite?" Artemis thought about that for a second. "Not as possible, but still likely." **

**Holly digested this piece of information, and decided to steer the conversation else where. "So where's Butler exactly? Not like him to leave you here alone." **

** "Juliet's birthday was last week. Seeing as she was in Mexico, Butler thought it would nice to take her out to dinner in the village."**

** Holly looked out in the direction of Ducard. "Well, I hope their having more fun than we are. Come on, Mud Boy. Lets go set up some satellites." **


	6. Ch5

Chapter 5:

Gunfight at the SeaStone

**Ironically, Holly's statement couldn't be further from the truth. It was at that moment Juliet was thinking how things had gone from being her twenty-fifth birthday to a shoot out with trolls. **

**How the situation had come to that followed like this; the troll's leader had demanded that Butler, her, and Mulch come with them. Butler refused, and promptly smashed his fist into the trolls face. What followed was a mad dash to the bar, where they took cover from the Neutrino fire that followed. The partygoers shot back, Butler with his Sig, Juliet with a pistol, and Mulch with a portable Neutrino he had "borrowed" from some friends. **

**It was at that moment Butler slumped down beside his sister. "Sorry if this wasn't the party you were expecting", he grunted. **

"**Are you kidding? This is better than last year," she retorted. "On three?" Butler nodded. "One, two, three!" The two Butlers sprang up from behind the bar, and fired off five precision shots, each. **

**The first two trolls took cover underneath up turned tables. The third was not as bright. Out of the ten shots, three hit him in the shoulder, two in the leg, and one clipped his temple, knocking him out.**

"**Traek's down!", the leader roared. "Siit, go get 'im!" The troll, Siit, holstered his gun, and ran to his fallen comrade, to get promptly shot in the lower chest. **

**Mulch peeped out from under the bar. "'Nice shooting, Tex.' I knew you good, but…" **

"**Actually, that wasn't me.", Butler stated, matter-of-factly. Just then, a man slid across the bar, and landed beside Mulch. "That's because it was me." **

**Mulch shot a glare at the man, his dwarf hair all standing on end from the shock. "And you would be…?" Juliet started. **

"**Agent Raymond Stockard, MI-5. "Butler looked the man over. Medium sized, early thirties. He had his hair dyed black and slicked like Elvis Presley, and wore a black trench coat over a short sleeved dress shirt. Oddly, he was double fisting, carrying two government-issue pistols. **

**Mulch, finished with patting his hair down, gave the man a look. "What the hell's a MI-5 stiff doing all the way out here?" **

**The man took a peek over the bar. "Nice to meet you, and your welcoming for saving your sorry behind. To answer your question, visiting family. Now, what the hells going on here?" **

**Butler grunted. "Don't ask. You don't really want to know." **

"…**Alright then. How do we get out of here?" Juliet took another peek over the counter top. "Ugly 1 is knocked out, and Ugly 2 is more or less dead. That leaves Tattoo." **

**Agent Stockard scrunched up his forehead. "If we're quick, we could make a run for it. It's risky, but…." Mulch perked up. **

"**Tell you want. _You _people want to make a run for it, and _I _would rather not get shot. So, I'll stay here and keep him from getting a shot at you, then meet you outside." **

**Butler sidled up to Mulch. "Are you sure? I can carry you, if your worried about not keeping up." Mulch nodded. "I'll be fine." He motioned for Butler to come closer. "There's a thick vein of soil running under this place. I just gotta rip out the floor boards", he whispered. **

**Of course. If worst came to worst, the dwarf could tunnel his way out. That's why he got so calm, Butler thought. He knew that there was an escape route all along. **

**Juliet leaned in. "Dom, if we're going to go, it's got to be now." Butler holstered his gun. "Right." Agent Stockard was leaning on the balls of his feet. "When I say 'three', we run", he whispered. "One…". Shots fired behind them. They turned.**

**Mulch gave them a look. "What? You wanted a distraction." Butler groaned. That dwarf would be the death of him someday. "Go!"**

**The three people ran across the room in a sprint that would put an Olympic runner to shame. Shots flew over their heads on occasion, but the troll couldn't shoot and dodge Mulch's shots at the same time. **

** Juliet rammed the door, and Butler and Stockard went tumbling after her. They laid on the ground, panting. "God, I'm not as young as I used to be", Stockard wheezed. **

"**Same here", Butler motioned. He extended a meaty hand. "Butler, by the way. That's my sister, Juliet." A mound of dirt rose up beside them, and exploded. **

"**Mulch Diggums, thank you for asking…not." The agent wiped the dirt from his face, thankfully not knowing it was post digested. **

** "Alright then, I'm going to ignore asking how you did that, and get straight to the point; why was that…_thing _trying to kill you." **

**Juliet snickered. "With all the guys who've tried to over the years, it's pretty obvious. Someone sent him to grind an axe with Artemis." **

**Stockard raised an eyebrow. "Our friend-slash-boss," Juliet explained. "Artemis Fowl." **

**Stockard ran this through his head for a second, then his whole face seemed to rise up. "You mean Artemis Fowl, the criminal mastermind?"**

** "His kid," Mulch said. "And a chip of the old block, if I do say…" Butler silenced him with a glare. Agent Stockard rose up. "Geez, I heard the guys in the office talk about a teen crime boss, but I thought they were pulling my leg." He turned to Butler. "You think that thing was sent here because of your association with him?"**

** "That hits the nail on the head", came a voice from behind them. They turned to see the tattooed troll, pointing a gun at Mulchs head. All three humans pulled their weapons. **

** "I wouldn't if I were you," the troll chuckled, "unless you want the dwarf to go home in a body bag." Butler put his gun back in his holster. "Good. Now, you're going to do what the greasy-haired stooge said, and take me to see your boss, or else… ARGH!"**

** An ear shattering whine pierced the night sky, making all present have to cover their ears, or else go deaf. The troll let go of Mulch, and dropped to the ground, howling and rolling around in agony. And then, it stopped. **

** No one said anything, then Juliet: "What the hell was that?" Butler opened his mouth to respond, then something stopped him. He saw a faint green glow coming from behind the tavern. When he rushed up to it, it was gone, but Butler could have sworn he saw the fleeting shadow of a man.**

** The bodyguard decided it was nothing, and walked back to rejoin his group. The other three were crowded around the fallen troll. The troll in question had begun to stir, which Mulch quickly corrected with a fist to the forehead. **

** "Concussor Knuckles." Mulch explained, showing off his fists; they were adorned with a metal band with blue spots where knuckles should be. "Wait 'till I tell the boys in Haven I punched out a troll." He chuckled.**

** Butler turned to Juliet. "We need to get back to the Manor right away. If whoever sent these "men" wants Artemis, they might try going directly for him." He looked down at the troll. "We bring him, too, in case he can tell us anything."**

** "I have a truck," Stockard said. "I think the trunk would be big enough to hold him."**

"**Alright, go get it. We'll tie this one up." As the man ran to get his truck, Butler was surprised how easily he trusted him. Perhaps it was necessary, but Butler reminded him self to keep an eye on this 'Agent' Stockard. **

** Juliet tapped him on the shoulder. "Odd, isn't it?" Butler was puzzled by the question. **

** "What's odd?" Juliet motioned to the scene around them. The whole of the SeaStone was decimated, with a KO'ed troll lying on the sidewalk in front. Beside it, Mulch was jabbering to himself, trying to beef up the story for his friends. Butler was thankful that the tavern was isolated from the town, as he wouldn't want to be the man to explain all this. **

** "This, all of it; it's odd. I just find it funny that I look at this scene, and to me, it's nothing new. This is just a regular day in my life." The young woman looked up at her brother. "I'm having trouble just _remembering _a normal day in my life." **

** Butler had to agree; normal wasn't what is used to be. Fairies, magic, and outracing death had become second nature to all of them. Good things had come out of his new life, but Butler often wondered what would have happened if he had take Artemis out of his kidnapping scheme all those years ago…**

** His thoughts were interrupted by the honking of a horn. A large, black pick-up was coming towards them. **

** "Care to give me a hand with the big fellow?" The smile returned to Juliet's face. **

** "Alright"The two siblings idled up to the unconscious body. "I wonder how Arty's going to react when he sees what we've been up to…." **


	7. Ch6

**Chapter 6:**

**The Stranger in the Blue Box**

** In the LEP, there was one Golden Rule; when Foaly was in charge, obey or get trampled. The usually boastful and joking centaur now navigated his way around the masses of techies and computers, checking readings and barking orders with a seriousness that Artemis had never seen before. **

**The young man turned his head to marvel at the efficiency. In less then an hour, the entire front of Fowl Manor had been turned into a military camp. Plastic, domed shelters had been set up to protect the computers and sensor equipment from weather, and mini barracks were being put up for the soldiers.**

"**Coffee?" Artemis turned to see Holly holding out a cup of steaming liquid to him. **

** "Thank you." He took a sip. Scrunching up his face, he swallowed. "I don't suppose you have any Earl Grey?" **

** Holly snorted. "Typical genius. Give him a good coffee, he wants fancy tea." She sat down beside her friend. "So tell me, Mud Boy" she said. "Do you really believe all this? Aliens, I mean?"**

** Artemis shrugged, sipping his coffee. "The Universe is vast, and growing every day. I don't find it inconceivable that other life could exist." He turned to Holly. "Do I think that what Foaly's chasing is a spaceship? That, I find, is a little more far fetched." **

** "Well, you won't when you see this." The pair turned to see Foaly, Trouble, and Luskar walking up to them. Artemis, once again, had to force him self not to shiver looking at the goblin. **

** "What d'you have, Foaly? A message from the Millennium Falcon?" Holly gibed. The centaur snorted, and pawed the ground with his fore hoofs. **

** "Very funny, Captain. I'm laughing inside." Foaly put a laptop in between Artemis and Holly. "But you won't laugh at this. We've been analyzing the object, and we've discovered two things. One," he held up a finger, "it's changed its direction. My boys figure it's coming right for the Manor."**

** Artemis drew a sharp breath. Heading straight for the Manor? How could that be? **

** Holly broke the silence. "And the second thing, Foaly?"**

**This time, Trouble spoke up. "We've discovered it's giving off a huge energy signature. The techies figure it's equal to three nuclear plants, except they don't know what kind of energy it is." **

**Foaly typed a few keys on his laptop. "But now that we know what that it's creating energy, we can get to work analyzing it." Foaly brought up a program on the computers screen. **

"**Thanks to my exceptionally large brain, I've tuned this device to register large amounts of energy where there shouldn't…" Foaly stared at the screen.**

**Luskar tapped the centaurs shoulder. "I know I'll regret asking this, but what is it?"**

**Foaly pointed at the screen, making every one crowd around in front of the tiny computer. On it where two pulsating bars, one red, one white.**

"**The red bar is the energy coming from the object," Foaly explained. "But that white bar… that means that there's another object with a different energy signature."**

**Artemis frowned. "Another? But we've only seen the one object. Where is the other?"**

"**That's just the thing," Foaly spluttered, hands flying across the keyboard. "According to these readings, the objects got a massive power behind it, yet it's almost like insubstantial, like it hasn't got a good grip on reality…" **

**But as Foaly finished his words, something happened. A wind kicked up, rustling trees all around the estate. Then came the noise. Softly at first, but growing in volume. It sounded mechanical, yet strangely organic; a groaning heartbeat amidst the grinding of gears. **

**Holly looked at Foaly. "Okay Foaly, what the hell is going… Oh, D'Arvit!" **

**_Something _was appearing before them. It was transparent, ghostly at first. Yet with each of those groans, it grew more and more solid. **

**Luskar was the first to recover from the shock. "All officers, fall in!" he roared. "Offensive pattern Beta!" **

**All at once, streams of LEP officers began pouring out of the shelters, like a swarm of ants. They surrounded the rapidly appearing object, pointing their Neutrinos with dead-on accuracy. Holly, Luskar, and Trouble also pulled out the guns strapped to their hips.**

**The object had finally appeared fully, and Artemis could not help but gawk at the cause of all the alarm.**

** "A phone box." he said flatly. **

**Holly cast a sideways glance at her friend. "What?"**

"**It's a phone box." Artemis explained. "A 1950's police phone box, to be accurate. I remember my grandfather showing me a picture of one when he was still alive." **

"**Thank you, Fowl. That helps a great deal." Trouble growled. "Now, could you also explain why one has suddenly poofed up in front of us?"**

**Artemis had to smile. "While I highly doubt it 'poofed' up, Commander, I can honestly say; no idea."**

**It was just then that Artemis heard the sound of a lock clicking. The doors of the blue box swung inward, emitting a bright glow from within. **

**Everyone held their breath. Thoughts raced through their minds. Who, or what, was inside that thing? Were they friendly? What did they look like? Monstrous creatures ran through Artemis's head, fanatical alien beings with bug eyes and bald heads.**

**So imagine, if you will, his surprise when a skinny man in a tweed jacket poked his head out the door.**

** "Okay, let's see. People pointing big guns at me; nothing new there. Big fancy guns. Definitely not human guns. I'm on Earth, and being threatened by non-human guns. Improbable, but not impossible. Perhaps you lot are what I'm looking for. Then again, maybe not. Maybe you could help. Have you seen anything unusual lately? Flying saucers? Odd weather? Have you met anyone with a zipper on their forehead in the past couple days? God, I hope not…"**

** The strange man seemed to realize that everyone was staring at him. **

"**Oh, I'm sorry!" he bellowed. "Haven't introduced myself, have I?" He ran up and began shaking Troubles hand. "I'm the Doctor, pleased to meet you. Might I say, and I don't mean to be probing, but there's something about you that…Wait."**

** The man finally noticed Troubles pointed ears.**

"**Ears! Pointed ears! That's it! Wait, no, that's not it." The man spun in a circle, absorbing every detail. "Let's see," he continued, "Small, humanoid, pointed ears. Oh, you've got to be kidding me." **

**The strange man took something from his pocket, and pointed it at Holly. It looked like a skinny flashlight, and glowed green with a whining noise. He ran it over Holly's face, then looked at the reading on its side. A grin spread on his face, almost reaching each his ears. **

"**Fairies!" he exclaimed. "Oh, my, God, your fairies! That's fantastic! 400-odd years of coming to this planet, and there were _fairies _here! How's that for a shock-"**

**WHAM! Everyone flinched as Luskar jumped up and punched the man between the eyes. The stranger collapsed on the ground in a heap.**

"**Ow." Luskar began sucking on his knuckles. "Crazy bastard's got a hard face." **

"**Was it really necessary to punch him out, Major?" Foaly asked.**

"**He was pissing me off, so yes, it was really necessary to punch him out." The goblin turned to a group of officers positioned behind the stranger's box. "Take this man, and put him in the manors cellar!"**

**Luskar followed as the officers struggled to drag the unconscious man to the manors front. Artemis turned to Foaly. **

"**Tell me, Foaly. What do you think just happened?" he asked. Foaly was still recovering from the shock of the mans sudden appearance.**

** "Not sure, Arty. The fact that a Mud man was able to do that box trick alone… I mean, did you see it? Technology like that… that light thing… not even the People have that kind of tech. And what did he say? He was a doctor? What kind of a doctor makes high-tech phone boxes?" **

**He motioned to the police box in front of them. "Plus, did you see how easily he figured out we're fairies? None of this is normal."**

**Holly snorted. "Foaly, we haven't had a "normal" day since we met you-know-who right here." She rustled Artemis's hair, to illustrate her point.**

**Artemis chuckled, and smoothed down his hair. "Same here, Holly." His face grew serious again. "But did any of you catch what he said? 'Four hundred odd years of coming to this planet'?" **

**Trouble shrugged. "He's nuts; I would be too if I had to travel around in that thing." He turned to another group of officers. "Get that thing inside the lab tent!"**

**Lowering his voice, he turned back to Foaly. "I have a feeling you want to study it."**

**Foaly nodded. "Thank you, Commander. Now I have to get back to my duties; tell me when our new friend wakes up." And with that, both he and Trouble walked back to the camp.**

**Artemis and Holly began walking back as well. Artemis opened his mouth to speak, but Holly cut him off. **

"**You think there's more, don't you?"**

**Artemis shrugged. "You know me so well, Captain Short. Yes, I think that this 'event' is connected to everything; and I have a plan to figure out how."**

**Holly groaned. Everything always started to get more complicated when Artemis got a plan. "_I should get some more coffee." _she thought. _"I have a felling I'm going to need it."_ **


	8. Ch7

Chapter 7:

Interrogations and Conversations

"**Urgh." The Doctor tried to say more, but it hurt to move his face. He opened his eyes, only to see nothing but blurs. "_Okay," _he thought, "_Let's see how deep in trouble I am this time." _He blinked his eyes, hoping to restore his vision. The blurs began to take shape, and the Time Lord found himself in a featureless room made of greyish-blue bricks. In the middle of the room was a chair, and strapped to that chair was an old, quite confused time-traveler.**

"**Hullo!" No answer. "Well," The Doctor said, "it seems I'm all alone. Oh, wait, no I'm not." He craned his neck, and twisted it until he could look at the camera behind him. "I'm awake, if anyone cares." **

"**_Hopefully, that gets someone in here"_, he thought. And maybe they would bring some answers. Perhaps they could help him figure out what was going on…**

"**Rise and shine," Trouble snorted, lying back in Artemis' armchair. The fairies had thought to put the stranger in the same room Artemis had put Holly in years ago. Unfortunately, the only room with access to the cellar's camera was Artemis' study, meaning the usually clean room became a jungle of lie detectors, wires, and monitors. **

"**And how is our "guest", Commander?" Artemis leaned in to the monitor on his desk. This man intrigued him.**

"**Well, he's shouting at the camera, so I think I'll pay him a visit soon." The commander got up, and motioned for Foaly and Luskar to follow. Artemis decided that it was now or never. **

"**Commander," he began, "There's something I wish you'd consider." Trouble turned around, his eyebrow twitching.**

"**Yes, Fowl? Please, grace me with your genius." **

"**This man, quite obviously, is very intelligent. We've seen that with his technology. He also seems to be tracking the object, just like us." He paused, finding the right words. "If we can, perhaps we can persuade him to work with…"**

"**I'm not going to bother letting you finish. Answer: No." Trouble opened the door, letting Foaly push a hover cart full of equipment past. "It's bad enough you people know about us; I don't want the Council on my ass about another Mud Man we have to worry about." And with that, he strode out the door, Luskar tailing after him. When they were gone, Holly sat up in the chair she was sitting in.**

"**And here I thought the Great Artemis Fowl was so smart" she snorted. "That was your plan? Ask nicely?" **

**Artemis shrugged. "So far, yes." He walked over to his desk, and typed in a command on the keyboard. All the screens on the wall suddenly formed one image; the cellar and the prisoner. **

**Holly brought her chair up to the screens. "Still, you must have known Trouble wouldn't go for it." There was a short silence after that. Then, Holly spoke again. "You know, he does appreciate your help. Even if he doesn't show it."**

** There was another silence. "Artemis?"**

"**I know" Artemis said suddenly. Holly turned her head, but Artemis turned away, and walked back to his desk. **

"**_What was that all about?" _Holly thought. _"Was he just…staring at me that whole time?"_**

**Artemis dragged his armchair up to the screens, and set it beside Holly. "Now, let's see what we can learn from our friend" he said. **

"**_Changing the subject" _Holly noticed.**

**Well, whatever was going on with Artemis would have to wait. Looking at the screens, Holly saw that the Commander had begun to talk. Artemis turned up the volume, and the two friends sat motionless, eager to hear every word. **

**The door creaked, and the Doctor looked up to see three of the fairies walk in. One was human-looking, another was reptilian, and the Doctor could not help the giddy smile on his face when he saw the centaur come in with the cart.**

** "The service here is terrible" he said. "I specifically asked that my wake-up call come at 10:00. It is now 10:25."**

** The human looking fairy set up a folding chair from the cart, and sat down, looking the Doctor right in the eye. "Think you're a funny Mud Man, don't you?"**

** The Doctor shrugged. "On occasions, yes. Now, I assume that you have come here to question me, but first, can I just say it is an honor to meet you."**

** This took Trouble back a bit. "Pardon?"**

"**It is! I've seen pretty much everything there is to see on this planet, and then I meet you! You really surprised me, which isn't as easy as it would sound. I'd shake your hand again if could move it. Which leads me to my question: why am I tied up in a cell? Not that it's my first time…"**

"**I don't doubt that" Foaly muttered.**

** "…But I don't think I did anything wrong." The Doctor scanned the three fairies. "By the way, do you think I could know your names, by any chance?"**

** Foaly clopped over to the Doctor, and started attaching diodes to the man's forehead. "I'm Foaly. The big boss is Commander Trouble Kelp, and the goblin is Major Horam Luskar." **

** The Doctor craned his neck to look at the Major. "Goblin, huh? Strange. I was thinking that you were a Silurian, but…"**

** Luskar hissed, and conjured a fire ball in his hand. "What did you call me, punk?"**

** The Doctor stared at the flame. "Silurian. Definitely not. But to answer your question, here's a bit of deductive reasoning. Seeing as I have seen nearly every historical moment in history and not seen you lot anywhere, I assume you live underground, yes?"**

** "Right" Foaly said, unsure where this was going. **

** "Then tell me," The Doctor continued, "have you ever seen "other things" besides you down there?"**

** Foaly was officially interested now. "Such as?"**

"**Believe it or not, you people aren't the only non-human species on this planet. There are the Silurians and Sea Devils, descended from dinosaurs; nice people, if you get to know them. Then the Wisps; love the Wisps. Sentient clouds of gas, how brilliant is that? And then you have the Golem tribes in the American North; not actually made of rock, but they grow this sort of organic mineral on their skin, it's quite fascinating…"**

**Trouble couldn't believe his ears. This man was more off his rocker than any of them thought. He turned to have Foaly start the lie detectors, but the centaur was listening to the stranger with wide eyed attention, almost like a child at story time.**

"**If you aren't already busy Foaly," Trouble growled, "Perhaps we could start with what we're wasting our time here for."**

** Foaly smile sheepishly, and clopped back over to the cart. He flipped a couple switches, and immediately the computer hummed to life. The Doctor's pulse showed up on the monitor, beeping in a slow rhythm. **

** Trouble straightened up in his chair, and took out a notepad. "Now, I'm sure you know what we're doing, so answer as best as you can." He flipped through a couple pages. "Question one: What is your full name?" **

** "The Doctor", the Doctor said. **

** "A doctor of what, exactly?" Foaly asked. **

"…**Interesting" The Doctor said. "Most people ask "who"…. Well, I pretty much specialize in anything. And everything. Which ever you think is more appropriate."**

"**Smug little Mud Crawler, aren't you?" Luskar growled. But there was no change in the pulses rhythm. The man was telling the truth.**

"**Question two: how old are you?" Trouble continued.**

** The Doctor scrunched up his face, thinking. "Let's see… last time I looked, I think it was…. Eleven hundred and nine… I think."**

** There was a small silence. "Eleven-hundred and nine?" Trouble said.**

** "You think?" Foaly said.**

** "Well, I'm sorry," The Doctor said, getting defensive, "but it's not my fault I can't be bothered to remember my own birthdays, what with all the situations I always seem to be getting thrown into. You would think as a time-traveler, I'd have all my personal dates in order, but no, it's a huge mess; what with all this planet's Christmases, birthdays, friend's weddings… And then the Monodians create "Day of the Doctor"… Let me tell you, nothing screws up your personal calendar more than having your own day named after you…**

** For some reason, it was that last sentence that put Trouble over the edge. **

"**Enough!" the elf roared. "This is a Priority One military operation, not an asylum! I am wasting enough time here as is, and you insist on wasting even more with your stories, so shut up and answer the questions!"**

"**You know," the Doctor started, "that much anger can't be healthy. This may seems out of place, but I'd suggest you go see someone about-"**

**WHOOSH! A fireball blew past The Doctor's head. Luskar smirked at the man, belching smoke and sparks.**

**All the anger suddenly drained out of Trouble. He slumped down in his chair, and faced the cause of all his grief. "Look, you. I am extremely tired, and I still have a whole operation to head. So just tell me; why are you here?"**

**The Doctor shrugged. "Same reason as you. Something mysterious appears in the sky, and I come running. Now, what I think is the best course of action here is co-operation."**

"**Out of the question." Trouble said **

** "Really?" The Doctor retorted, "because it looks to me that you could use all help the help you could get." **

** That got under Trouble's skin. "Now, look here…"**

"**No, you look here." The Doctor shot back. Something had changed; his voice had taken on a different tone; a commanding tone. "I am very, very old, and I've seen enough to know that you are all way over your heads. Something incredibly old, incredibly powerful has appeared in your sky, and you think you can handle it? Your technology couldn't even come within fifty miles of what that thing is capable of. And if you think you can even begin to understand it, you will come to the harsh reality that you are centuries behind anything you will discover. Now, I ask again; do you want my help?"**

**Trouble was really mad now. "If you even think that we'd…**

"…**We accept, Doctor." Foaly said. "Thank you." **

**Troubles face went bright red. He grabbed Foaly by the arm, and dragged the centaur to a corner of the room. "Foaly, are you out of your dammed mind?" he whispered. "Do you know what the Council will do to me if we don't wipe this guy's brain right now?"**

"**Trouble, please. I wrote half of the Councils guidelines. But think about this." Foaly pointed at The Doctor. "He's just like Artemis..."**

"**Oh, gods…" Trouble moaned. **

** "..In the sense that it would be soooooooo much harder if we didn't have his brain working with us. So what if he's a little…eccentric? But like you said, the Council probably won't go for it. Best to just wipe him and drop him off in some town. Yeah, that's the best course of action…" **

** Trouble groaned. "I see what your doing Foaly; You want him on your team. Alright, you get him…" Foaly pumped his fist, "…BUT. If he causes any problems, I'm telling the Council this was all your idea, and you did it behind my back, understood?" **

** Foaly shrugged. "Fair enough." He clopped back over to the Doctor, making no attempt to hide the grin on his face. "Welcome to team Foaly, Doctor."**

** The Doctor beamed. "Wonderful! Always love being part of a team. Now, about this situation with the chair …"**

"…**And the trap is sprung." Artemis laid back in his chair, with that self satisfied smile he always got when he was right. **

** "And what are you so smug about?" Holly asked. "Not that you need any reason to be smug."**

** "Simple, my dear Holly. The plan was a success."**

**This didn't help Holly at all. "The plan?"**

** Artemis chuckled. Another chance to show his genius. "This "Doctor" is incredibly intelligent, and he undoubtedly knew Foaly was, too. It would make sense to both of them that we could combine our resources…"**

** "Which Trouble didn't want." Holly said, still not following.**

** "But the idea was fresh in his mind, courtesy of me. All that was needed to convince him was reinforcement from a third party; say, a centaur and eccentric Mud man…**

** Holly still didn't get it. "And?"**

**Artemis smiled his conceited smile. "I knew that the Commander wouldn't listen to me. I also had a hunch that our new friend would want to work with us. _And, _I knew that Foaly would trump the Commander's decision. So, I let them do the work of convincing Trouble for me."**

**Holly's mouth hung open. "You sneaky little Mud Boy."**

** Artemis shrugged. "Not really. Anyone with enough experience in psychology could see what I was doing."**

** Holly raised an eyebrow. "Meaning anyone who's as smart as you?"**

**Artemis smirked. "Exactly. Now, my dear Holly, I have a feeling that we'll be using the conference room soon. Grab those chairs, would you?" **


	9. Ch 8

**Chapter 8:**

**The Gang's all here**

** "…So I find Arty and Holly cowering together, 'bout to be mauled by a pack of trolls, and I say to myself 'Mulch, do what they would do for you. Save them.' So there I was, bravely staring down a hoard of angry flesh eaters…" **

** Butler swore that if he had to listen to one more of Mulch's stories, he would boot the dwarf right in his prized rear, as soon as he got out Stockard's cramped truck.**

** Perhaps a back story. After being pestered by Agents Stockard's questions, it was decided by the three friends to explain how they gotten to meet each other, starting with the kidnapping. Mulch had volunteered to recount their adventures, and by 'recount', he obviously meant make himself the hero of every story. **

** "… And there I am, sneaking through Koboi's shuttle, when suddenly-" Mulch yelped, and jumped in his seat. A shaggy hand had struck the windows that peered into the back of the truck. Juliet dared to take a quick peek.**

** "It's good," she said. "Looks like Ugly was just having a dream." **

** Butler didn't want to be reminded that there was a troll in the back, so he turned his attention to Agent Stockard. "Incredible, isn't it?" **

** Stockard nodded his head.**

** "If you don't mind me probing," Butler continued, "you seem quite calm about all this."**

** Stockard shrugged. "My brothers a bit of a UFO nutter. Living with him for so many years, I kinda accepted that something was out there." He motioned his eyes to Mulch. "Just never thought it'd be little fairy men."**

** Mulch opened his mouth to shoot back a retort, but something stopped him.**

** Juliet feigned shocked. "Impossible! Stinky doesn't have a retort! I never thought I'd see the day that…" Then she went quiet.**

** Butler looked through the windshield. Up ahead was the manor, and surrounding the manor were fairy shuttles and large tents. **

** Butler groaned. "_And here I thought I could have one night off….."_**

** "Now, I bet you're all wondering why I called you here tonight." The Doctor grinned. "Always wanted a chance to say that."**

** Artemis had insisted that this meeting be held in the conference room. Spread out around the table were him, Holly, Trouble, Foaly, Luskar, and the strange 'Doctor' fellow. **

** The Doctor shimmied his chair over to Artemis. "I assume you're the one every one keeps going on about around here." He extended his hand. "The Doctor."**

** Artemis shook the man's hand. "Artemis Fowl the Second. An honor and a privilege to meet you finally."**

** The Doctor grinned. "And people say chivalry is dead. Now", he turned to face everyone, "to busisness then."**

** "Indeed." Artemis leaned in, locking his eyes on the Doctor. "Now, you've obviously been 'briefed' about our situation, so now I want to hear yours."**

** "Fair enough. So there I am, completing an orbit around the Moon…"**

** Foaly and Holly took the chance to chuckle at the look on Troubles face.**

** "…when I pick up this strange frequency on my scanners. So I say to myself, 'Doctor, you clever git, can you really afford to lose this opportunity?' So I get down here as soon as I can, and end up here." He looked at Artemis. "How'd you get here?"**

** Artemis attempted a rather pitiful smile. "I live here."**

** The Doctor started nodding furiously. Trouble put his head in his hands, which was an opportunity that Foaly took right away.**

** "Problems, Commander?" he asked sweetly. **

** "Shut your face, donkey."**

** "Tsk, tsk," Foaly tuttered. "No need for that, Trouble. I guarantee you, I'll be right. As always."**

** "As always." Trouble took a glance at the man across the table. He was currently in a Discussion with Artemis about residual energy signature tracking, or something. Abruptly, he turned back to Foaly. "We don't show him the video." **

** Foaly mouth hung open. "But…."**

** Trouble glared at the centaur, who immediately closed his mouth. "I have been fairly lenient about all this, Foaly. Not even considering the fact that if anyone hears about this, you and I will be probably been thrown in prison." He jerked his thumb in the direction if the Doctor. "The last thing I want is _him_ looking at all our classified files."**

** While Trouble and Foaly argued, and the two geniuses brainstormed, Luskar decided to take an opportunity for a nap , leaving Holly as the only person in the room with nothing to do. She was sitting by the window, when something caught her eye outside. **

** She motioned to everyone to come look. "Thin we have a small situation outside." Every one crowded around her at the window. (Except Luskar, puffing smoke out his nostrils as he snored).**

** A large black truck had pulled up outside the manor, surrounded by a circle of LEP officers, guns at the ready. A large figure was climbing out of the truck, followed by three more.**

** "Well" Artemis said, recognizing the bulk. 'It seems Butler's finally decided to join us again."**

** The Doctor whirled around. "Pardon me; did you just say 'Butler'?" **

** Artemis nodded. The Doctor face lit up, and he zoomed out of the room, leaving its occupants in a daze.**

** "I think its best we go with him." Trouble grunted. "Foaly, wake up the Major." Foaly grinned. He clopped up to the table, and promptly stomped on Luskar's tail. Everyone took a step back to avoid be hit by the flames that followed.**

** Mulch had begun to wonder why he decided to go to Juliet's birthday. It was rare that, in any of the parties he had gone to, all the partiers ended up getting into gun fights with trolls, and then getting arrested. "_Not even Nord had parties like this." _he thought. **

** They had driven up to the manor, only to be swarmed by Recon officers. They acted all cocky, brandishing their guns and barking orders to get out of the truck, but then Butler got out. No matter how many times it happened, Mulch always found the look on the officers' faces funny.**

** Stockard came shambling up behind him. "Okay, dwarf man. What's the story here?"**

** Mulch shrugged. "Dammed if I know. If I know anything, Arty probably called them all up here just to spike Foaly's blood pressure." Juliet giggled, knowing that was probably true.**

** Butler scanned the area. Everything within ten feet of the manor had been cordoned off; nothing but a sea of tents and equipment. And what was that thing coming towards them...?**

** The Doctor stopped running, skidded for a second, and came right up to Butler's chest.**

** "Hello again! Good to see you all!" he boomed, shaking Butler's hand again. Butler just stared. What was he doing here? **

** Artemis quickly followed, along with Holly, Trouble and Foaly. Quick greetings were exchanged with 'hi's' and 'how are you's' and little jokes, after which Butler made a bee line for Artemis.**

** "You had a pleasant evening, I hope?" Artemis asked.**

** Butler snorted. "As if." He motioned to all the equipment and fairies. "Would you mind telling us what's going on?"**

** Artemis explained quickly, condensing details. Butler pointed to the Doctor. "And why is he here?" **

** "He just appeared. I know that sound's weak, but he literally just appeared right in front of us." Artemis narrowed his eyes. "Do you know who he is?"**

** "Met him at the SeaStone. I'm just as clueless as you." Butler chuckled. "Now there's something that doesn't happen very often."**

** Holly jogged up to the pair, Mulch in tow. "Trubbs going to go off the deep end pretty soon, now that we have two mud men to worry about." She gestured to Stockard, who was swamped by Recon officers. "And now, Mulch is telling me it's all because of trolls?" **

** "Pretty damn smart trolls," Mulch grumbled. "If ya don't believe me Holly, just go talk to him yourself-"**

** CCRRRRRNNNNNNNCCHHHH! The roof of a truck landed not five inches from where Artemis was standing. The group followed the noise of the pandemonium, to find a stand-off at the front of the manor.**

** The troll had woken up, it seemed. And in a foul mood. It was grasping Foaly by the throat, holding him high enough so his front legs were kicking air. Trouble, Luskar, and the rest of Recon had their Neutrino's aimed, along with Juliet and Stockard with their pistols.**

** "GET BACK!" the troll roared. "Any of you even look at me wrong, and I rip his head off!**

** Most of Recon was stunned that the troll was talking. Not Holly. In one swift motion, she pulled her Neutrino, ran up to the troll, and got a lock on the one part of his body he wasn't blocking with Foaly. "Drop the pony. Now"**

** The troll actually smirked. "You think I'm scared of you, elf? My fore-fathers eviscerated elves by the score before they were even bulls, so don't even think that- AAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"**

** Bands of blue lightning ran across the troll's body, causing him to drop Foaly. His hair literally stood on end, and he convulsed for a full minute before passing out.**

** Every one stared. The Doctor stood over the troll, with a Shokker in one hand and his strange device in the other. He looked just as dumb-founded as every one else.**

** "Was it supposed to do that?" he asked. "Cause if not, then I think I seriously broke your shocky thing."**

** Luskar was the first to the troll, followed by Juliet and Stockard. "This the troll?" he asked. Juliet nodded. Luskar motioned to a group of Recon jockeys. "I want this thing bound and in the cellar!"**

**The jockeys looked like they would protest, but one look from Trouble made them think otherwise. **

**Holly and Artemis went to check on Foaly. He was gasping for breath, but he otherwise seemed okay. Still, Holly began a field examination.**

"**No broken bones. Any muscle pain, numbness, internal bleeding?" **

**Foaly shook his head. "I think I soiled myself a little bit, but I'm fine." He looked at the furry hulk being dragged into the manor. "A talking troll. How about that?"**

"**Indeed." Artemis agreed. "And one with a considerable vocabulary. Meaning whoever sent him must be just as intelligent.**

**Foaly nodded. Smart henchman usually meant even smarter bosses. He turned his head to the sky. The object was visible with the naked eye now, glowing softly in the night sky. It would have been beautiful, but Foaly had a sneaking suspicion that every thing that had happened so far all lead back to it.**

"**_We're going to find out what you are. Just you wait…"_ **


	10. Ch 9

Chapter 9:

The Breaker of Worlds

** Dawn was breaking over the foothills of Fowl Manor. Half the fairy's had retreated to the shelter of the technical tents. The other half had retreated into the manor, much to the dismay of Artemis. The boy genius was currently sitting in his study, marvelling at the number of events that had happened in such a short amount of time. **

_**Such is my life now**_**, he thought….**_**Perhaps I should go prepare some breakfast. The twins will be waking up soon.**_

__**The twins! Artemis had completely forgotten about them! He couldn't have them waking up into a house full of fairies! Artemis rushed to the kitchen. What he needed to do was clear out the area, make breakfast, and somehow figure out how to confine the twins to the kitchen for the rest of the day.**

** What actually happened was far from what he thought of. When he burst through the kitchens giant door, he found the twins already awake, sitting at the small breakfast nook eating some sort of eggs. What surprised him, though, was Mulch standing on top of a stool, leaning over the stove top cracking eggs into a frying pan.**

** Myles noticed his big brother standing in the door way. ''G'Morning, Arty!'' he beamed cheerfully. Mulch looked up from his eggs.**

** ''There you are, Mud Boy. Some big brother you are.'' he snorted. ''I walk in here, and I see these two whelps sitting in here, whining about how hungry they are.''**

** Artemis stared. ''**_**You **_**cooked them their breakfast?''**

** Mulch was insulted. ''Hey, just because I eat dirt most of the time doesn't mean I can't cook.'' He waved his spatula around at the nook. 'All those years of living on my own did me some good. I make a mean **_**huevos rancheros**_**. Sit down and I'll make you some too. 'Cept if you insult my cooking again, you can expect to find more than a few grains of dirt in there.'' The dwarf returned to his cooking, whistling an ACDC song while he worked. **

** Artemis slinked into a free chair at the nook. Neither Myles nor Beckett seemed particularly shocked that a hairy dwarf was cooking their breakfast. In fact, they were whispering to each other about what exactly Mulch was. Artemis realized that he was actually quite content right now. Hopefully his friends were feeling as content as he felt right now…**

** Major Luskar was anything but content. He was having a horrible day so far, or in his case more horrible than usual.**

** Being the first goblin ever accepted into the LEP was not as bright a position as it sounded. Goblins had never been the most beloved of the Fairy Families; most fairies became nervous just by being in the same room a goblin. The B'wa Kell rebellions had done nothing to improve their image, either. Like most human cities would blame certain ethnic groups, nearly all inner city crime was thought to be the work of goblins simply because of the actions of a few. A recent survey even showed that goblins were the least trusted of all fairy species, even above dwarves. **

** Because of all this, Luskar had the hardest time of all Retrieval officers. Most witnesses were scared to talk to him. Criminals he'd caught regularly sent him hate mail. Other goblins called him a traitor, and the officers under his command were terrified of him and his reputation. Any time he flashed his badge, he had to wither the stares of people who thought he had stolen it from an actual officer. It was fair to say that he had a thoroughly crappy life.**

** ''**_**Stop focusing on all your stress, fool''**_** he thought, rubbing his scaly temples. ''**_**You'll end up like Uncle Eilo and get a coronary . Focus on the task at hand.''**_

** The task at hand was the interrogation of the talking troll. Whereas the troll had seemed unable to shut up when attacking them, he was now as silent as a grave, albeit a very large grave. Commander Kelp, Holly, and Luskar had all taken cracks at getting the troll to spill his guts. Butler had tried nearly every interrogation trick Madame Ko had taught him, to no avail. Foaly had tried to use his mind wiping equipment to search the troll's memories; the troll had tried to bite his arm off when he attempted to sedate the beast. Even the MI-5 agent Butler had brought back, Stockard, had tried to crack the troll, much to the displeasure of the Commander. Yet the troll remained tight lipped. **

** The defeated party sat in the cellar of Fowl Manor, outside the cell that used to hold Holly during the Siege. Trouble was sucking back as much sim coffee as the machine could make. ''I think it's fair to say we're getting nowhere'' he growled.**

** Holly looked through the window in the door. ''It doesn't make sense. He's got no advantage, no leverage; technically, he's not even a fairy, so he knows that the basic criminal rights don't apply to him. Why does he think holding out will do him any good?''**

** Butler spoke up. 'It's not ignorance, its confidence. He's trying to fake us out by acting like he's taking defeat gracefully, but look at him. The way he holds himself. He thinks he can get out.''**

** ''He probably does have a way out.'' Everyone looked at Stockard. ''I ran a mission once, back in Iraq. We detained this Al-Qaeda suspect; wrung him out for days, and he gave us nothing. Always seemed like he thought he could get out. Turns out his brother was masquerading as a local soldier on the base we were on. Broke him out, and they stole a whole bunch of weapons.'' **

** A light in Luskar's brain clicked. ''So he's holding out because he's got some sort of plan.'' Trouble nodded. It made sense, in a dangerous way. Everyone realized that if the troll had allowed himself to be caught, that meant who ever sent him had a purpose for him being there. Meaning it was all the more important to find out what he knew.**

** ''Excuse me.'' Holly turned around to see the Doctor standing behind her. ''Would it be alright if I had a crack at him?''**

** Trouble would have objected, on any other day. But today he was tired, running on empty. He waved his hand at the Doctor. ''Go ahead, Mud Man. See if that oversized bran of yours can do anything useful. Foaly, open it up.''**

** Foaly stepped over and unlocked the cell door. ''Good luck'' he whispered as the Doctor walked past, and he shut the door. The group converged around the video screen, hoping that maybe, just maybe, that strange man might succeed…**

** The Doctor stared at the troll. It was tied down with octo-bonds to a large leather chair, which Butler had hauled into the cell. The chair itself was encased inside a laser cage. The troll watch the Doctor pull up one of the small stools in the room, and looked right into the man's eyes.**

** ''You know,'' the Doctor said, ''everyone else is all surprised that you can talk.'' **

** The troll said nothing.**

** The Doctor continued. ''Apparently trolls don't have enough grey matter to recognize his own mother, let alone string a sentence together. Foaly's words, not mine.''**

** Still nothing. **

** The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver. ''So to me, the answer is obvious; someone or thing has augmented your brain. Of course, that alone wouldn't be enough to make you be able to speak, which is why you have that scar on your neck. You've obviously got some sort of mechanical part that acts like a larynx. So my question to you is, how much do you think it will hurt if I turn my super duper sonic screwdriver on to maximum and point it at your voice box?''**

** The troll said nothing for about a minute, then it did something unexpected: it pulled back its gums and barred its teeth. But it wasn't threatening the Doctor; it was smiling. Not only that, but it started to laugh. A harsh, guttural sound.**

** ''You could do that,'' it finally said. ''But you won't. I know you won't, because my master said you wouldn't.''**

** Now the Doctor smiled. He was getting somewhere. ''Really? Well, then your master must know quite a bit about me. Tell me, why did you think to come here and threaten these people, Mr….?''**

** ''I am Ghor'' the troll said. ''And I came because my master told me who I would find here.''**

** ''And who, exactly, did you come to find, Ghor?''**

** Ghor snorted. ''That, I will not say. But my master also said that I would find you here, as well.''**

** Outside, everyone was crowding around the video screen. So the troll did have a plan. Or at least, who ever sent the troll had a plan.**

** Inside, the Doctor pressed on. ''It seems your master knows quite a bit about me, Ghor me old mate. Tell me, what did he tell you about me?''**

** Ghor smiled again, but with much more menace. ''He told me and my brethren the stories of you. The stories that stretch from world to world, that stretch the galaxies. He told us of your legend; the Lonely God, the Oncoming Storm. He told us tales of horror; how you tore down empires, condemned whole planets to destruction, how whole armadas were sent running like frightened children at mere mention of you name.''**

** Holly couldn't believe her ears. What the hell was this Ghor talking about? Whatever it was, it was clearly having an effect on the Doctor. She noticed that his features were twisting, contorting into pained expressions. He got up off his stool, and made his way to the door.**

** But Ghor wasn't finished. ''He told us that you were The Breaker of Worlds! He told us of the War, Time Lord! How you raised yourself to God's level, and passed judgement on all you saw! He told us how you stood in the heart of the battle and watched your enemies' civilisation burn! How you condemned your planet to apocalypse! He told us, oh last of the Time Lords, how you wander the Universe, seeking your penance, justification of your act of genocide against your own people!''**

** KLANG! The Doctor swung the door of the cell hard, blocking out the trolls mocking tone. Everyone turned away from the screen to look at him. Both Butler and Holly were shocked. Until then, they had only seen the Doctor in a perpetual joyful mood. But now, he looked horrible. His brow was scrunched, and his eyes reflected rage. Rage and sadness.**

** ''I think he's ready to talk now'' he said coldly. And with that, he walked strode down the corridor, and ran up the stairs, never looking back.**

** The group just stood there. For how long, they didn't know. Finally, Foaly broke the silence.**

** ''Please tell me I'm not the only one thinking 'What the hell just happened'?''**

** Trouble shook his head. ''D'arvit, Foaly. Now do you see why I wanted him wiped? He's going to be trouble later, I just know it.''**

** Holly was still shocked. ''All that stuff the troll was saying, calling him a… what?''**

** ''Time Lord'' Stockard said. ''I have a feeling our friend is keeping some things from us.''**

** Butler nodded. He knew something was off about this situation, which was something seeing as his life was mostly unexpected situations nowadays. Still, he felt that something was going to happen soon. His gunshot wound was acting up again, the one the Holly had healed; the one which left him with Kevlar in his chest. He noticed that whenever something bad was going to happen, it started throbbing. Juliet always told him he was being paranoid, but Butler couldn't help but feel uneasy; his wound was throbbing like crazy. **


	11. Ch 10

**Chapter 10:**

**Secrets and Revelations**

** The day's events passed by rather quickly for Holly. After the interrogation of Ghor, the Doctor took over a guest room in the manor, and locked himself in. He said he was 'meditating', whatever he meant by that. Trouble worked Foaly and his techies to the bone, clearly becoming more and more nervous as the object was obviously growing closer and closer, clear now even in the daylight. They only stopped working for a lunch break; Butler supplied the cooking, with quite a bit of help from Mulch, to everyone's surprise.**

** ''See if I ever cook for **_**you**_** people again'' he grumbled.**

** Artemis had taken the opportunity to help out bit more around the work camp. He ran diagnostics, tuned equipment, create diagrams of possible scenarios. It was awkward to work around these other fairies, however; half of them were nervous around him, and others fawned over him. One of had actually asked for an autograph for his niece. Foaly had even got him to try and talk the Doctor out of his room, but he just repeated the same thing: ''I'm meditating.''**

** Artemis was in his study with his all his friends now, watching the video of the interrogation. ''…Seeking your penance, justification of your act of genocide against your own people!'' the video Ghor yelled, his baritone voice making the speakers vibrate.**

** The video ended, and Artemis sat there, motionless, everyone staring at him. Finally, he shrugged. ''I don't what to say'' he said. ''I don't know anything about troll physiology, but as far as I can tell, he's telling the truth. Or he thinks he is, at least.''**

** ''What about the cute little weirdo?'' Juliet asked ''You can't pull any of your fancy psychology moves on him?''**

** Artemis smiled in that condescending way that always made Holly want to punch him. ''No, I can't pull any **_**moves **_**on him. Whatever 'baggage' our friend has, this troll knew about it, and knew exactly which of his buttons to press, so to speak''**

** Holly snorted. ''Baggage? Not to poke fun at your credentials, Arty, but were you actually watching the video?''**

** ''I was actually… trying to finish my symphony, but I heard enough.'' There it was again. Artemis seemed lost in thought again. **

** Foaly rubbed his temples. ''I admit he's upset about something. Depression is one thing, but if we accept that he feels guilt about something, we have to consider the fact that…'' **

** ''He's out of his tiny little mind?'' Mulch said bluntly. ''Come, Foaly, don't tell me you believe all of that. And just when I finally started to respect you.''**

** Butler spoke up. ''Much as I am hesitant to agree with Mulch…''**

** ''Thank yo- HEY!''**

** ''…and not even taking in to account how strange my life has become, I can't get behind the idea that that man is some genocidal-''**

** ''Genocidal what?'' Every one turned around to see the Doctor leaning on the doorway. He looked fairly somber, and his hair was fairly dishevelled. **

** ''…I understand that…recent events have put me in an interesting light,'' he began, ''and considering how fairly little you all know about me, I can see how it might be a little…confusing.'' He took in a breath through his nose, and out through his mouth. ''There's quite a bit about myself I haven't told all of you, and a lot more I would rather not say. But if I'm going to continue helping you, perhaps it's time I let you all in on some of my…personal information.''**

** He motioned for the group to follow him, and started down the hall….**

** The Doctor stopped at a door at the end of the hall, and opened the door after a moments hesitation. Inside were Trouble and Luskar, along with a small group of techies. In the center of the room sat the Doctor's blue box, surrounded by a ring of sensors and lab equipment. **

** ''Captain. Foaly. So glad you thought it worth your time to join us'' Trouble said, clearly the days stresses taking toll on his patience.**

** ''Might I ask what is going on?'' Artemis inquired.**

** Trouble ignored him, so Luskar turned around. ''The Mud Man said that he can open up his box for us.''**

** Foaly clopped up to the sensor control panel, very intrigued. ''Really? I've spent a good five hours in here, trying everything. Lasers, X-ray, mini explosives, robotic lock picker…''**

** And with that, the Doctor turned to his box, raised his arm, and snapped his fingers. The doors flew wide open.**

** ''….Admittedly, I did not try that'' Foaly said meekly.**

** The Doctor walked up to the box, and held up his arm, signalling for them to go in. ''No more secrets'' he said flatly. This gave Foaly a pang of guilt; he remembered the video. He looked like he would say something, but stopped when he saw Trouble looking at him.**

** Artemis was the first to take the Doctors offer. He strode up to the box, and stuck his head in. Because of the angle the box was at, Holly couldn't see what her friend was seeing. He was obviously seeing something, because it was a full minute before he pulled his head back out. He looked shocked; his face was pale, and his eyes were wide. He motioned rapidly, urging everyone to follow him. And with that, he walked, somewhat stiffly , into the box. **

** Holly, Foaly, Butler, Juliet, Mulch, Trouble, and Luskar all went for the entrance at once. Holly was the first to go through, and that was when she knew things were far stranger than she originally thought.**

** She was in a massive, dome shaped room. The walls were a copper colour, curved into a half sphere with large circular screens dotting the walls. She walked up a gangplank made of glass up to the center, which was raised on a large pedestal. In the center of the pedestal there was a console in the shape of a hexagon. It was a curious blend of old human tech with technology Holly had never seen. In the center of said console there was a column that stretched to the ceiling, containing a smaller, oddly shaped glass column that bobbed slowly up and down. Artemis was examining what looked like a typewriter, which was situated next to a pulsing mass of fleshy green wires.**

** Butler stood up to his full height, his jaw falling farther and farther down his face. Juliet and Mulch were the same. Foaly looked like a kid in a candy shop, marvelling at each new piece of machinery. Trouble and Luskar just looked shocked. The Doctor closed the doors behind him, and turned to face his new friends.**

** ''Welcome to the TARDIS'' he said proudly, if he was presenting his first born son. ''Before you ask, Mr. Foaly, it means 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space'. It's a spaceship, time machine, and all around, one sexy piece of machinery. And yes, it's bigger on the inside than the outside. Any questions?''**

** ''D'arvit" Mulch wheezed.**

** "Not what people usually say, but I can see how that could be acceptable." The Doctor ran up the gangplank, and began to spin knobs and twist dials.**

** Artemis and Foaly clumped between the Doctor, their inner scientists coming to the surface. "Doctor, may I ask what you're doing?" Artemis asked. The Doctor just grinned, and then flipped a lever down.**

** Suddenly the whole room lurched to one side, tossing the occupants around like beans would be tossed if you shook the can. Holly flew right of her feet smashing Artemis right into the guardrail.**

** "D'Arvit!" Holly swore, rubbing her head. "Sorry." Artemis looked like he would say something, but simply nodded. Again, he was acting strange…**

_**No time to worry about that now! **_**Holly thought. The room had lurched to the other side, causing everyone to fly to the other side. Holly grabbed Artemis by the wrist, and used the other hand to grab the console when they flew by.**

** The Doctor seemed blissfully unaffected by the room's spastic revolutions. He hung onto the console, keeping his feet firmly pressed onto the ground and grinning like a mad scientist. He had seemed somewhat sad before, but now he was giddy, back in his element. Suddenly, the room righted itself, depositing everyone onto the ground.**

** "OW! Dammit!" Trouble fumed. "FOALY! What the hell was that?"**

** "No need to shout, Commander" Butler groaned. "We can all hear you just fine."**

** Holly got up, feeling her body for bruises and cuts. "Mind telling us what you just did?" she said, treating the Doctor to her 'I-am-extremely-pissed-off' look. The Doctor seemed immune to it, however, and jumped over Juliet and Luskar, striding up to the doors and flinging them wide open. **

** Everyone gawked. They were no longer inside the manor. Nor were they outside the manor. They were not even on planet Earth, it seemed. Outside the door was nothing but outer space. Stars twinkled from far away, and a gaseous cloud spun listlessly in the nothingness, soon to become a new star.**

** The Doctor sighed. "Welcome to Alpha Centauri, my friends. Are you close to fainting in awe, or do I have to wait a few more minutes?"**

** Everyone was speechless. Finally, Artemis found the courage to speak. "Why aren't we suffocating?"**

** The Doctor made a face. "You are witnessing the birth of a star, in a galaxy mankind won't reach in another thousand years, and those're the first words that come into your mind?" He closed the doors. "Atmosphere shell, if you really must know."**

** The Doctor pranced, (yes, pranced), back up to the console, and began twisting more dials, staring at a small TV screen attached to the column. "Now, do you want answers? Because I'm about to show you something I've never shown anyone else."**

** Foaly rubbed his head, still sore from the trip. "Why us, then?"**

** The Doctor's face took on that solemn expression again. "My friends, the people I've travelled with, they often asked me the same things that you all have. I never showed them because I don't think that they could...handle it the same way I think you could."**

** And with that, he pulled down the lever. Everyone took a quick moment to grab something connected to the floor. Artemis noticed that the glass column inside the bigger column was moving faster now, and that same strange sound was emanating from below their feet.**

** A couple moments passed, and when the shaking had subsided, the Doctor strode back to the doors and pulled them open.**

** The sight they say was as impressive as the star cloud, but more horrifying. Mulch's hair stood up on its end. Holly felt a shiver go down her spine. Both Butlers drew in sharp breaths, and everyone else just stared, transfixed by what they saw.**

** It was a planet. A planet the same size of Earth, but it was impossible to know for sure because the planet was tore apart. A large gash that went straight down to the core of the planet stretched across the surface of the planet, as if some giant had ripped away at the surface. The surface itself was charred, as if it was set fire and left to burn. Chunks of the planet orbited in circles, flying uncomfortably close to the TARDIS.**

** "This is what remains of the planet Gallifrey." The Doctor said. "Welcome to my home."**

** A cold silence filled the ship, which Holly couldn't stand. "You're an alien, yeah?"**

** "Time Lord, yeah."**

** Foaly didn't take his eyes off the planet. "So what that troll said…."**

** "There was a war" the Doctor said, interrupting Foaly. "It was long, brutal; bad people did bad things on both sides. In the end, boom. No more Time Lords except me."**

** Everyone decided to leave it at that. Whatever had happened, it affected The Doctor in some way. Butler realized that was why the man's eyes didn't make his demeanour; The Doctor wore a mask.**

** The Doctor, meanwhile, had decided they had had enough. He closed the doors, and ran back to his console. A couple minutes later, the TARDIS landed back in front of Fowl Manor.**

** Everyone stumbled out, clearly shaken by what they had seen. The Doctor stayed inside. "I'll be out in a tic" he said. "I just need a couple minutes to sort some problems out with the stabilizers."**

** Medics and techies rushed up to meet them, inquiring about what happened and checking for symptoms of shock. Holly brushed them off, and sidled up to Artemis. "You okay, Mud Boy?" **

** Artemis nodded. "That was quite….something." He held his head on his hands. "This changes everything, Holly. I mean, we just travelled light years in a second, in an **_**alien ship, **_**for god's sake."**

** Holly started giggling, trying to let off her nerves. "Well, it's something to cross off the bucket list, eh?" They both shared a laugh at that. "I guess we should go see the medics," she said finally. "They probably want to see if we're still sane."**

** "Agreed." They both started walking to the medical tent. Suddenly, Artemis stopped. "Holly?"**

** "Yes?"**

** Artemis looked a bit nervous. "On second thought, I think I'm going to pass on the sanity check…"**

** "And…?"**

** Artemis took a deep breath. "There's… something I need to talk to you about. Meet me on the roof in about ten minutes, okay?"**

** Holly nodded. Before she could ask any questions, Artemis ran off and wet up the manor's front stairs, disappearing through the double doors. **

_**"Is that why he's been acting so odd? He wanted to talk?" **_**Holly thought. Whatever it was, she'd find out soon enough. She set her suit's watch to go off in ten minutes, and made her way to the medical tent, where five gremlins were standing on each other's shoulders trying to attach medical diodes to Butler's head.**

** It was at this moment that the entire situation was about to turn on a dime, to use a phrase. Everything that transpired after this became legend in the LEP among those who were there, and began a long, complex conspiracy that was fed to the fairy public about what had happened. Humans who were as far as Dublin saw what happened, but only the people who were there at the manor know the whole story, and it's a story that they wouldn't forget… **


	12. Ch 11

**Chapter 11:**

**Under the light of a UFO**

** The Doctor sat at the console, idly flicking away at buttons. True, it wasn't **_**actually **_**Gallifrey, in the truest sense, he had shown to Artemis and the rest, but even so, seeing his home that way always made him remember what happened; it made him feel empty.**

** To banish the emptiness, he had taken a bit of snooping. By 'fixing a problem with the stabilizers', he really meant 'I'm going to take a peek at your computer files'. Something seemed to be upsetting Foaly, even before he saw the planet. And The Doctor, who could never control his curiosity, wanted to know more. Suddenly, a marked file appeared on the Console screen. It was marked in Gnommish, but the TARDIS' translator circuit made it read 'CLASSIFIED BY ORDER OF THE COUNCIL'.**

** ''Now what do we have here?' The Doctor murmured to himself, and he clicked on the file…**

** Night had now fully descended on Fowl Manor. The fairies hiding away inside the house were now back out in the tents, running scans and tests on the object that was now closer than ever. Butler and Stockard, ever the soldiers, had taken to making rounds, in case some troublesome teenagers or nosy locals thought to sneak onto property. **

**The twins were kept busy throughout the day; they ran from tent to tent, eager to see what was happening inside before being shooed out. At one point, Myles tried to take apart one of Foaly's computers. Five Retrieval officers were needed to stop him from trampling the young Fowl. Beckett, meanwhile, had taken to digging tunnels with Mulch; unfortunately, he tried to dig tunnels **_**exactly**_** like Mulch. In the end, Juliet (thankfully) dragged them off to get ready for bed. **

**So busy was every one, that no one noticed the absence of two people; Artemis and Holly. While Holly as getting her sanity check, Artemis had made his way to the top of the manor. On the west wing of the manor, there was a section of roof that was slanted just enough to allow people to lay down on it. Flanked by two tower turrets that provided privacy, it offered a spectacular view of the sky. Artemis had crawled out of the French window, laid down on the shingles, and waited. And ten minutes later, Holly crawled out the window.**

''**There you are'' she grunted, slithering out of the window. ''I'm glad your communicator's got a GPS.''**

**Artemis chuckled. ''Really?'' **

**Holly nodded, crawling out to Artemis. ''Foaly's idea.'' She laid back on the shingles next to her friend. ''So what's on your mind, Arty boy?''**

** Artemis bit his lower lip. **_**Best to handle this carefully**_**, he thought. ''Well…'' he began slowly, ''I've been given it some thought, and I decided it would be best for you to know this…'' He took in a breath. ''Perhaps I should explain a little bit more first. You see, this has been bothering me for a while…''**

**(One month ago; The J. Argon Psychiatric Clinic)**

Doctor Argon had been a psychiatrist for almost two centuries. He had had patients of all kinds. Schizophrenics, sociopaths, kleptomaniacs; nearly every kind of psychosis had made his way through his clinic. He had two centuries worth of patience; and yet this human was very close to driving him over the edge.

Artemis Fowl was no ordinary patient, though. The only human to ever manifest Atlantis Complex; it was quite something. And yet, it was excruciatingly hard. Other doctors and nurses would flock to his room to try and get a glimpse of the infamous genius. His friends at the LEP meant no reporters of any kind, and Argon could not talk about it without the threat of being arrested. His mother visited often, and that woman was paranoid; always looking over his shoulder, to make sure her baby was being treated with the best possible practices and medications.

And then there was the boy himself. Artemis Fowl was in the throes of his condition, flitting back and forth between his two personalities. When he was Artemis, he was, to say the least, insufferable. He seemed to think that he was the doctor, and Argon was the patient to be scrutinized. And when he was Orion, he was deluded, romantic loon.

Doctor Argon was in the interview room now, trying to go through his daily session with his famous patient.

''So, tell me Artemis,'' he began, ''how do feel right at this moment.

The boy in front of him rolled his eyes. '''How do I feel'? Honestly, Doctor, could that be any more cliché?''

Argon gritted his teeth, but kept a smile on his face. '' It's a simple routine question. I'm obligated to ask. So?..."

Artemis sighed. "Very well. I feel fine thank you. And you?"

Again, Argon gritted his teeth. This human was pushing his to his breaking point. And worse, he seemed to know that. "Fine, except for my hip acting up again. Now, continuing on where we left off yesterday…"

"Ah, yes. Getting in touch with my emotions. Perhaps we could hold hands, sing 'Kumbiya' around a fire? Or is that too professional?"

Argon could swore his teeth were getting smaller each time he grinded them. "Actually, no. There's something I've been curious about, and I was wondering-"

Suddenly, Artemis flipped his head back. His hands twitched a couple times, and then he seemed to relax. "Ah, the good physician" said Orion Fowl, beaming with saintly goodness. "Pray thee well, I hope?"

_ Oh, D'arvit, _thought Argon. Aloud, he said, "Very well. However I was in the middle of talking with Artemis about something. Perhaps I could continue speaking with him?"

Orion tapped his head. "Speak what you would tell him, friend, and I will convey the message."

Argon sighed. "Fine. When I was talking with Captain Short she had said you had a certain emotional attachment with her?"

Orion went all dreamy eyed. "Ah, yes. My enchanting princess. What would you inquire about us, doctor?"

Argon shuffled his notes, trying to look more professional. "Well, giving that you are an alter ego of Artemis, this would mean that for you to have such an attachment, this would have to mean something transpired between him and Captain Short. Tell me, would you have any idea to what could have happened?"

In Orion's head, another conversation was going on between him and Artemis.

"I cannot believe that blithering witch doctor!" Artemis shouted. He turned to Orion, or rather, the mental image of Orion. "I demanded that you give me back control. I need to answer him."

Orion put on a confused face. "Why you? I share your memories, therefore I am as adequate to answer as you are."

Artemis was seething. "Because I know you" he rasped. "You won't tell him what I _need_ to tell him. You'll tell him exactly what happened when Holly and I went back in time!"

"And why is that a problem, per say?"

"Because I know Argon! He's a bloody fame hound! Even if he doesn't tell the press, he'll tell Foaly, and then it will be up on centaur's website!"

Orion pretended to consider that. "You know, my dear fellow? You're absolutely right. I shouldn't say what exactly happened on that night most fraught with passion."

Artemis grinded his metaphorical teeth. "But you will, won't you?"

Orion nodded, grinning from ear to metaphorical ear. "Correct. I will tell him. You are intent on getting rid of me, and I know you will at some point. Therefore, I consider it the mission of my dwindling life to make yours as hard as humanly possible."

In the actual world, Argon stared at the human in front of him. "Earth to Orion. Are you still there, or are you Artemis?"

Orion had spaced out, but he roused back into attention. "Apologies, friend. I was just thinking of the answer to your question."

"DON'T TELL HIM!" Artemis yelled, as if Argon and Orion could hear him.

Orion leaned forward, motioning for Argon to do the same. "Tell me, Doctor," he whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"

**(Fowl Manor, Today)**

** "You told him!" Holly screamed in Artemis' face. This was disastrous. If there was one thing she didn't need in her life, it was a scandal. And kissing a Mud Man was incredibly newsworthy.**

** Artemis shrugged, looking very guilty. "Technically speaking, it was Orion, not me."**

** Holly wagged her finger. "Don't you try that excuse, Artemis. It came out of your mouth, it's your fault."**

** Artemis let out a sigh. "In fairness, I was wrong. Argon never did tell anyone, much less Foaly. Thank God for doctor-patient confidentiality." Artemis rubbed his eyes. "Though I'm sure he'll put it in his next book on me, no doubt."**

** Holly felt like her stomach was dropping lower and lower. "Orion told him everything?" **

** "Everything. We spent a good couple hours discussing it, all three of us. Argon probed, I denied, Orion sang like a damn canary. If I had heard that gnome say 'latent emotions' one more time, I'd have throttled him."**

** That mental image gave Holly some comfort. She felt her lips, which were tingling like what had happened had happened yesterday. "Well, that's some bum news you've delivered, Arty. Be glad I don't have a gun, or shoot the messenger would apply here quite nicely."**

** Artemis smiled, but not like he usually does. "Holly…I also wanted to talk about…well, ever since I got out of Argons clinic, I've thought about… all the things he said, and…"**

**He didn't say anymore, because that was when he leaned over and kissed her.**

**One minute passed, two minutes passed. Maybe three. Finally, Artemis pulled away, keeping his eyes on Holly, who just sat there slacked jawed. She couldn't have been more surprised if Juliet said she was becoming a nun, Mulch went on a diet, and Foaly decided to revert to an Amish lifestyle. All on the same day.**

**The silence was deafening. Finally, Artemis spoke:**

"**I actually did not plan on doing that."**

** Holly stared at him. Then, she started to laugh. A small giggle at first, but soon it was a full on laugh. She kept laughing, and Artemis began to laugh too. They kept laughing, until they were on their backs, looking at the sky.**

** Artemis turned his head to Holly. "Sorry. Was that fairly awkward?"**

** Holly pretended to think. "Yeah, it was kinda awkward."**

** "…Did you enjoy it?"**

** "…I wouldn't say I hated it. Probably the best kiss I've had in a while."**

** "Good enough for me." **

** Holly shuffled a bit closer to Artemis, using his chest as a pillow. The sky was a deep blue-ish black, pin pricked by the stars. The light of the moon was overpowered by the light coming from the object, and to the two friends on the roof, it was the first time that it looked beautiful…**

** Luskar sat in the shadows, perched like a gargoyle on the left tower. It never occurred to Holly that a curious goblin would have wondered where she was going, and thought to follow her.**

** "They're quite cute together, aren't they?" came a voice from behind him. The Doctor stepped out of the shadows, and joined Luskar at the edge of the tower side.**

** Luskar shrugged. "Not for me to judge. What the Captain does is her business, not mine."**

** "And yet you followed her up here."**

** "As did you."**

** The Doctor chuckled. "Some things on my mind. I thought Miss Holly would be the best person to talk to." He looked down. "Though I don't think it's talking she's concerned with at the moment."**

** Luskar chuckled. "You fancy yourself as quite the comedian" he said.**

** The Doctor shrugged. "It helps to keep a positive outlook on life, especially my life. It also helps to surround yourself with good friends. At least, that's what I thought. Now it seems better to bum around on my own."**

** Luskar nodded. He could understand. Being part of Retrieval meant you had to keep looking over your shoulder for disgruntled criminals with a grudge. Made having a family especially hard. Considering whatever hell this man had been through…**

** Luskar scolded himself. Wallowing in self pity again. "You know you could just talk to Commander Kelp" he said.**

** The Doctor shook his head. "I'd rather talk to Holly."**

** "And why's that?"**

** The Doctor cringed. "I've never been fond of talking to military."**

** Luskar snorted a small fireball. "Oh, really?"**

** "Yes, really. I've never been fully able to trust them; too gung-ho." **

** "Really? And we can trust renegade Time Lords?"**

** An uncomfortable silence followed after that. "That was uncalled for," Luskar said finally, "Sorry."**

** The Doctor waved his hand. "No, you're right. Trust is quite frail; not something that you hand out as easily as I usually do." **

** Luskar was about to say something else, but he noticed something in the distance. It looked like two large fireflies, getting closer and closer as it sped down the road.**

** The Doctor noticed it too. "Now, what do you suppose that is?"**

** Artemis had noticed the lights too. He leaned out over the roof ledge, squinting out into the distance.**

** "What's up, Mud Boy?" Holly asked.**

** Suddenly, Artemis sat on his haunches, his skin two shades of white paler than it usually was. He swallowed hard, eyes wide.**

** "It's my parents" he said hoarsely. "They're back from Dublin."**


	13. Ch 12

**Chapter 12:**

**A Really Bad Welcome Home**

** Artemis Fowl Senior often looked back on that moment when he was in the car with his wife as the last regular moment of his life.**

** The convention in Dublin was fairly boring, as were all the exclusive rich-fancy-froo-froo parties that he and Angeline were invited to nowadays. Oh, how he wished he hadn't let himself be convinced to go. He could have stayed at home, and rode the horses out to the docks with the boys for a sea-side picnic.**

** "Well, that was lovely" said Angeline Fowl, oblivious to her husband's discomfort.**

** "Oh, yes dear," he agreed half-heartedly. "Suffocating in a boiling ballroom, being chatted up by rich snobs I don't even recognize. And don't get me started on the food…"**

** Angeline scowled. "Timmy, I thought you said you enjoyed yourself."**

** "Dear, sweet heart, I say that because I don't want you to beat me up in public."**

** Angeline tried to keep scowling, but she started to giggle. "True, that wouldn't be very 'posh' now, would it?"**

** Artemis Sr. laughed. "No, it would not."**

** Angeline settled into her seat. The manor was coming up into sight now. **_**The twins are probably in bed by now, **_**she thought, **_**but Artemis must be up. He'll surely insist on taking our luggage for us. The poor boy'll probably break his arms.**_

__**Angeline let out a small sigh, quiet enough so her husband wouldn't hear it. Poor Artemis; he had had to spend two days in a house with two screaming young boys, which would rattle any teenagers nerves. But Artemis already had his stress; all of his fairy escapades, having to lie to his father, the constant fear of death…**_** oh, God I never thought about that! The poor boy!**_

** Angeline resolved to do something for her eldest when she got home. Maybe make him something to drink, or help him with one of his projects. The manor was coming up closer now; she could see it quite clearly now, which was strange seeing as it was night. Perhaps Butler left the outdoor lights on…**_**Oh, dear God. Not this.**_

__**Angeline gripped the dashboard. "Timmy," she said, "I think there's something wrong with the engine. The light's been flashing…"**

** But it was too late. Artemis Fowl Sr. had seen the lights around his manor. "What in blazes is going on?!" he exclaimed, before flooring the accelerator.**

_**Oh dear, **_**thought Angeline, **_**this might get a little interesting….**_

** The Fowl's car pulled up in the front of the manor, and was immediately swarmed by a dozen Retrieval and Recon officers, all aiming their Neutrinos right at the Bentley. Artemis Sr. looked aghast.**

** "What…what the hell is going on!?" he yelled as he was dragged from the car.**

** "Don't move!" came one of many orders shouted at the couple. "Hands on your head!" "Freeze, Mud Men! Just give me a reason!"**

** Angeline looked around, hoping to find someone who would help. Instead, she found a tall man in a trench coat pointing one pistol at her, the other at Artemis Sr.**

** "Agent Stockard, MI-5" he said coldly. "Now what the hell do you think you're doing here?"**

** Artemis Sr. was about to spit uncharacteristically vicious obscenities at Stockard, but he saw two large people in the shapes of the Butler siblings running towards them. There was one of the small men sitting on Butler's shoulder. **

** "STOP!" Butler hollered. "This is Master and Mrs. Fowl! These are Artemis' parents!"**

** Immediately all the officers dropped their guns.**

** Butler and Juliet ran up to Mr. and Mrs. Fowl. Butler stared at Stockard, jerking his thumb to indicate he should leave. Stockard simply shrugged, and walked away.**

** Trouble, who was the little man on Butler's shoulder, jumped down and hollered at all the officers. "Back to work! And someone get Fowl down here now!"**

** Butler helped Artemis Sr. to his feet. "Welcome back, Mr. Fowl, sir. You had a pleasant trip back, I hope? Not too much traffic?"**

** "Butler," Artemis Sr. wheezed, "What the hell is happening here?"**

** Butler chose not to answer that question. "Dublin was fun, hopefully? Not too many of those snobbish-"**

** "Butler!" No such luck. "What is…who are these…what are these…"**

** Angeline gripped her husband's arm. "Timmy, perhaps you should calm down, maybe take a breath and think about this."**

** "Calm DOWN!? Angeline, how can you honestly tell me to calm down when we have…" he motioned to the ships and tents all laid out on his lawn, "…all this right on my front lawn?!"**

** Trouble walked up. "Sir, perhaps I misunderstood, but you really don't know what's going on?"**

** Artemis Sr. shook his head. "No, I do not. What the hell are you? Pointed ears, for God's sake. What are you, a fairy?"**

** "Yes, Timmy, he's a fairy," Angeline said, pulling on his arm. "Now, why don't we go inside and say hello to Arty, and then you can…"**

** It couldn't have been a worse moment for Foaly to trot up to them.**

** "Hey, gang," he said cheerfully, oblivious to what was going on, "What's with all the commotion?"**

** Artemis Sr. keeled over right on the spot. **

…**..Nothing. All black….then BAM! A horrible smell everywhere!**

** Artemis Sr. awoke sputtering, and the first thing he saw was a very hairy rear end not five inches away from his face. This being the first thing he saw, he acted in a manner that would be considered appropriate given the situation. **

** "!" He shot up off the ground, flailing his arms.**

** Mulch buttoned up his bum flap. "Told you that would wake him up."**

** Artemis Sr. looked around. He was in the kitchen now, surrounded by Angeline, Artemis, Butler, Juliet, a strange girl, a giant lizard, the man from before, and what looked like a hairy Munchkin.**

**Artemis looked at the munchkin. "Results notwithstanding, be lucky you didn't damage his sense of smell, Mulch."**

**The munchkin called Mulch made a face, but Artemis turned to his father. "Good to see you again, Father" he said quite cheerfully, unusual for Artemis. "I hope you had a good-"**

"**Stop right there" said Artemis Sr. "I don't want to hear another word unless it explains what the hell is going on."**

** Angeline moved forward. "Timmy, maybe you should go lie down for a while…"**

** "No lying down, no 'taking it easy'. I want to know what's going on. First; why is there that**_**…circus **_**on my front lawn? Second; who…what the hell are these people." He pointed to pointed to the fairies in the room. "And third-"**

** The Doctor barged through the kitchen door, covered in a mass of wires. "Could I get everyone to follow me to the conference room? If I'm right, I think there is a very good chance of us dying very painfully in the next few hours if we don't-"**

** The Doctor noticed that everyone in the room was staring at him. "Uh…is something going on?"**

** Holly nodded. "There's something going on."**

** "Ah. It can wait, then." And with that, he slinked out, trailing wires behind him. **

** Artemis Sr.'s throat was very dry. "And who the hell was that?"**

** Butler shrugged. "Dammed if we knew."**

** Artemis was rubbing his temples. "Perhaps it would be best if **_**I **_**explained things.**__**Holly and Butler, you tow can stay. As for the rest, do you think you could wait outside for a bit?"**

** Everyone proceeded to leave the kitchen, even Mulch, except he thought it best to raid the fridge one last time before he went. When everyone was gone, Artemis sat down in front of his father.**

** "Before I explain everything, I want you to know that I was meaning to tell you this, especially since Mother thought it would be best. And yes, she did know about this, and I'll tell you why. But first you need to understand how it all began. You see, Father, it started when you were lost at sea…"**

** And so for the next half hour, Artemis regaled his tales of adventure, with Holly and Butler supplying added information. Artemis Sr. could only sit and listen, almost refusing to believe what he was hearing. His son a kidnapped a fairy? Travelled through time? Butler had taken on an entire army of goblins? **_**They **_**were the reason he was still alive?**

** "…and that's why everyone's here now" Artemis concluded, wringing his thumbs. The two people and one fairy all looked at him, waiting to see how he would react.**

** Artemis Sr. was still processing the information that was given to him. He had so many question, just waiting on the tip of his tongue. He opened his mouth, wanting to say all of them at once.**

** What actually came out was: "Wow. Okay, then."**

** The three others looked at him. Artemis started chuckling, and leaned back in his chair. Holly did the same, and Butler just rubbed his eyes, smiling for some reason. "How does it feel to be in the loop, finally?" he said.**

** Artemis Sr. looked thoughtful. "…Not bad. At least things make a bit more sense now. If sense is the right word."**

** Holly chuckled. "It is. Trust me."**

** The Doctor, who had been eavesdropping by the door, poked his head back in through the door. "Are you all finished? Good, because like I was saying, good chance we're all gonna die reeeeaaally soon. Shall we head to the conference room, now?" **


	14. Ch 13

**Chapter 13:**

**The Enemy Reveals Himself**

** "Bugger!" The Doctor growled. The couplings just didn't want to join up it seemed. He kept forcing, and forcing, and finally, they connected with a SNAP and a small shock.**

** The group of friends sat in the conference room, watching the Doctor bury his head in a massive pile of wires and screens. His message of "We're all going to die really soon" had Trouble put up a Code Yellow around the manor. And now here they were, waiting for the Doctor to finish building…whatever it was he was building. **

** Finally, Holly said; "Do you think it would help at all if, oh, I don't know, you actually told us what you were doing over there?" **

** "Tell you what," the Doctor retorted. "You tell me, and then I'll tell you." Luskar started snickering. Holly looked confused for a second, then turned a shade of white paler than Artemis, who began sweat a little bit.**

** Foaly would have immediately taken note of this, but fortunately for them, he was too preoccupied with trying to figure out what the Doctor was building. Why don't you just ask him?" Mulch said, as if he could read the centaur's mind.**

** Artemis wiped his brow with a small chuckle. "Because, Mulch, asking another scientist for a hint is the ultimate shame for Foaly."**

** "Really?"**

** "Indeed. You should see the look on his face whenever he calls me up to ask a question. It's like he's dying inside." In return for that, Foaly treated the young genius to a centaur stink eye.**

** At the end of the table at the back of the room, Artemis Sr. and Angeline sat side by side, watching their son bicker with the centaur.**

** "Tell me, dear, " Artemis Sr. began, "why didn't he tell me sooner?"**

** Because he didn't want scare you or cause you to worry, Timmy. God knows he gets enough of that from me."**

** "That's the other thing. He didn't tell me why you know before I did. Why is that, exactly?"**

** "Again, not to worry you dear…"**

**SSSSSSSSZZZZZZZZZZZZKKKKKKKK ! A current of electricity ran down the machine, and the Doctor popped his head out. "Finally," he grunted, slamming the hatch shut. **

**Perhaps a description would be appropriate. The machine itself was the size of a slide projector, with wires running from it to the TARDIS, which the Doctor had parked in the room, much to the dismay of Mr. and Mrs. Fowl. It had a wide, angular lens that protruded out from a mass of wires, and on one side sat something that looked like a keyboard and screen.**

**The Doctor typed something into the key board, and the machine hummed to life with a low drone. **

**Trouble leaned forward, impatient to get started. "Okay, space-monkey," he said, letting his impatient be made clear, "What brilliance have you decide to grace upon us?"**

"**Oh, hush, Trubbs" Foaly said. "I for one am extremely excited."**

"**Well noted, Foaly. Thank you. Seeing as you're all the reason I decided to build this."**

**Butler felt the need to raise an eyebrow. "How so?"**

** The Doctor, with an impassive look on his face, pointed his sonic screwdriver at the machine, and clicked the button. It whirred for a moment, and then, a beam of light shot from the lens of the machine. It twisted for a moment, and formed a screen that hovered above the table.**

** Mulch was, to say the least, unimpressed. "A T.V? Wow, Really impressive space-man."**

** "My kid has one of those" Foaly chimed in.**

** The Doctor clicked his screwdriver again, and a video began playing on the screen, which ended up being one of the few occasions Foaly shut up completely.**

** It was _the_ video. The one that brought them to the manor in the first place. The same metal room, the same eye, the same voice. Those of them who had not seen it just stared; it took Angeline all she had not to scream when the eye can on.**

** Finally, the video finished playing, and the Doctor just stood beside the machine, no emotions playing across his face. "I thought we agreed," he said, "that there weren't going to be any secrets. I told you who I am, what I am, I showed you my ship, my home, and you go and try to hide this?"**

** Trouble put on his best stern face. "It was in the interest of-"**

** "INTEREST?!" the Doctor roared. At that moment, he strode up to Trouble, picked him up by his collar, and proceeded to let his rage out in the man's face.**

** "THIS COULD HAVE HELPED ME! YOU WANTED MY HELP, AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME! I NEEDED TO KNOW THIS! AND NOW, THANKS TO YOUR STUPIDITY, THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!"**

** CLICK. The Doctor turned around to see Holly pointing her gun in his face. As if he was coming out of a stupor, he noticed that all the fighters in the room were out of their chairs and ready to go, should The Doctor get violent. **

** The Doctor let go of Trouble, and, with all guns still trained on him, stumbled his way to a recliner at the edge of the room and collapsed into it, holding his head in his hands.**

** Artemis had thought to brew a pot of Earl Grey before the meeting started. He reached for the pot, poured to cups, and carried them over to The Doctor.**

** "You say we shouldn't keep secrets from each other," he said, handing the alien in his chair a cup of tea, "And yet it seems you're keeping a fairly big one to yourself."**

** The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, but Artemis raised his hand to cut him off. "You have your reasons, and undoubtedly an excuse, but I wish to hear neither. Now out with it, man; what is it that we are dealing with?"**

** The Doctor took a sip of his tea, and let out a heavy sigh. "It's not a pretty story, mind you."**

** Juliet shrugged. "Well, we're used to that, so…."**

** Te Doctor chuckled. "I bet you are….but not like this." He took in a deep breath, and began to tell the story he had told Rose, Martha, Donna, Amy and every one he'd met before.**

** "What they are is things called Daleks. They used to be Kaleds long ago, but a plague of sorts spread across their planet, so they only way for them to survive was to adapt. They had a scientist, Davros, altered them to survive. But the thing is, Davros was mad, and he ended up mutating them beyond recognition. Now their nothing more than squid-blobs in a suit of armor. The really horrible part is that Davros had muted them, so to speak. He removed any and all emotions from them. And now that they were what they were, the Daleks decided that they were the ultimate species. A master race, above all the others species in the universe. So they built weapons, ships, and they spread out. They became the most feared creatures in the entire universe. My people, the Time Lords, saw this happening and tried to stop it. Their plan was to send some one back to prevent the Daleks from ever being created. And just my luck, the person they picked was me. Not only did I fail, I ended up becoming Dalek enemy Number One. They hated me, and in turn, hated all Time Lords. So one day, they decided to rid themselves of us. They came down upon Gallifrey with legions of warships, blasting away at our cities, our homes. We knew we had top fight back, but the thing is, as the war went along, we knew we were outmatched. The Daleks kept breeding new Daleks, creating new weapons, enslaving more races to fight us. So the Council of Gallifrey came up with an ultimatum; let the Daleks have the universe, our destroy everything. They were going to open the Rift, the hole into time at the center of our world, and let the universe be destroyed. Their plan was to "evolve" themselves into beings of pure thought, and keep living even after the Universe was gone. I knew they were going to do it, so I did they only thing I could; I Time-Locked the War. The Daleks couldn't travel through time to save themselves, and neither could the Time Lords. And when the final phase of the lock had been activated…the energy destroyed everything in side the lock. Legions of ships just exploded in space, two great civilizations burned right in front of me, and I was left alone. But even after every thing I did, the Dalek's survived anyway…."**

** The Doctor went silent, apparently finished with his tale. Everyone just stared at him, mouths hung open. Finally;**

** "Well, that was amusing. I think I'm going to have nightmares for the rest of my life."**

** Holly looked at Mulch. "You really can't be serious about anything, can you?" **

** Mulch shook his head. "I find keeps me sane."**

** Butler went over all the facts he had just absorbed. "You say they think of themselves as a superior race. A superior race doesn't just hang around in the sky, or land on an Irish manor."**

** "_Land_ on an Irish manor?" Artemis Sr. echoed.**

** "Yeah, sorry. It's going to land here, as far as we can tell." Holly said. "And apparently it's full of angry, genocidal aliens."**

** "But Butler is correct" Artemis interjected. "They wouldn't come here unless we had something they wanted. It makes no sense logically."**

** "Maybe they aren't thinking logically" said Foaly. "Maybe they know he's here," he pointed to the Doctor, "and just think it's a good time to let loose with an old grudge."**

** The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle. "Actually, that might not be so far off."**

** Artemis looked at all his friends with determination. "We can debate all we want, but know that we know what exactly we're dealing with we can start trying to find a way to-"**

** "To what, exactly?" said a voice from nowhere. Everyone looked shocked for a second, and then realized that the voice was coming from the machine. **

** "Well? What exactly are you going to do? Try to find a way to stop us? Oh, it's much too late for that."**

** "Is it supposed to do that?" Mulch asked.**

** "I can't believe you have to ask that" Holly said.**

** The machine continued to talk. "Oh, my poor, deluded Doctor. You've gone soft in your old age, old friend, and yet you're still as arrogant as you always were. Hacking into this little box was as easy as strangling an infant."**

** The Doctor turned a pale shade of white. He recognized that voice; that pompous, mocking voice…**

** The machine began to whir again, and every one took a step back, as if it were going to explode. Another beam of light shot out the lens and began to take on an odd shape.**

** "Did you really think I wouldn't know what you were doing?" the voice continued. "It's obvious that this box is a transmitter. What was your plan? Send us up a little message? Show us you were here and make us run scared with our tails between our legs like always?"**

** The hologram had finished reshaping, and it sat hovering a few inches above the conference table. It seemed to be a man, sitting in some sort of machine. The machine looked like a bulky cylinder, with silver knobs running up and down its length. It stopped at the man's torso, and went up his spine. The man himself had only on arm, and a horrible, wrinkled face with a large, pulsating blue light at the center of his forehead. His machine seemed to be a control board, with little buttons, switches, levers laid out before him like a dinner tray.**

** The man pulled his gums back in what looked like a smile. His teeth were black. "Always so confident in your abilities, aren't you Doctor? How I love tearing down your feelings of security. It really is the only thing that warms my little black heart."**

** Artemis leaned in to The Doctor. "A friend of yours, I hope?"**

** The Doctor shook his head. He stood up, and said the two words he hoped he never had to say for a long, long time.**

** "Hello, Davros…"**

…**Meanwhile, unknown to everyone, something was going on beneath the manor. Ghor, who, in spite of recent events, had been largely forgotten about, sat in his cell, waiting for the agent.**

** Suddenly, a yelp came from behind the cell door. The agent, no doubt, had dispatched the guards. The door creaked open, and there stood the agent, his body obscured by shadows. **

** "You're late, as usual" Ghor grunted.**

** The agent said nothing, but instead raised his weapon. He fired off eight shots, each for the eight major weak spots of the octo-bonds. Ghor shrugged them off, and stretched his massive limbs.**

** "You are aware of the plan?" the agent asked.**

** "Of course" Ghor snapped. "Is the master delaying them?"**

** "Right on schedule. Now hurry up, your over sized thro-rug. The Nightmare Child will be here soon, along with the master."**

** The odd pair exited the cell, stepping over the now dead bodies of the Retrieval officers that were standing guard. Time for Phase Two…. **


	15. Ch 14

**Chapter 14:**

**Something Wicked this way Flies**

** "Davros?" echoed Mulch. "As in the freaky, 'Doctor Frankenstein' loon you just…"**

** "Mulch, shut UP!" Holly rasped, enforcing her opinion with another punch. **

** Davros smiled, or rather, his hologram smiled. "I'm so pleased to see that you still remembered me, Doctor. Most other people try to put their murders out of their mind."**

** The Doctor stood his ground, grinding his teeth. Every instinct in his body told him to run, to get everyone in the TARDIS and take off. But he stood firm.**

** "You look healthy, Davros. Better than we last met. Less, uh, 'wizened'" he said, putting on his brave face. **

** Davros seemed to find that amusing. "Always the bravado, Doctor. Does sit ever get tiring? Having to pretend for the humans?"**

** Artemis straightened his back, and cleared his throat. "Speaking as one of the humans" he said, "perhaps you could enlighten me as to why you are currently making your way towards my manor." **

** Davros faux-smiled again. "Ahh, the genius; always so inquisitive." The hologram shifted, and it floated down from the center of the table to in front of Artemis. "Tell me, boy, why would I come to such an insignificant spot? Why would I waste my time? What great value can I find in such a worthless place?"**

** Artemis raised his hand in a mock yawn. "Don't tell me; you're one of those villains who like to taunt people with riddles. Quite cliché, I find."**

** Davros chuckled. "See it that way, if you like. I thought an intellect like yours would have figured it out by now."**

** "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint-." Artemis stopped mid-sentence. "How…how do _you _know about my intelligence?"**

** Again, Davros just chuckled. "All will be quite clear soon, Master Fowl. And until then," the hologram turned to face The Doctor, "farewell, Time Lord." And with that, the hologram disappeared and the machine went dead.**

** Foaly whinnied, and clomped his feet. "I've decided that I don't like him all that much."**

** "He said 'all will be quite clear soon'," Butler said, ignoring Foaly. "I assume that means something bad."**

** "Who knows," said Juliet. "Maybe he's planning a party for all of us…."**

** It was at that moment that Trouble's radio went off, causing everyone to jump a good few inches off the ground. Trouble cursed, and unhooked the radio from his belt. "This is Commander Kelp," he barked, "What the hell is going on?!"**

** A garble of different sounds emitted from the speaker, until; "Sir, we don't KZZZZZZZZZZZZZZK he got loose, but KZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ tearing us apaKZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ He's going for the shuttle KZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Need assistance ImmediaKZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH HHHHHHZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZ. **

** A resounding BOOOM shook the manor and Holly rushed towards the French windows to see what was going on. What she saw was Ghor, surrounded by LEP officers lying on the ground, ripping chunks out of a shuttle. **

** She spun on her heels, facing the commander. "Troll's out," she said, trying to control her urge to rush and help. "Half of Retrieval is down, and it looks like he's trying to strand us here."**

** Artemis Sr. butted in. "Sorry, did you say troll?"**

** CRRSSH! A LEP officer suddenly flew through the window, crashing into Butler's chest, arguably breaking more bones in the process. Both of the Butler's immediately got on their knees, and began checking the officer. **

** "Eye's forward, soldier" Butler grumbled, slapping the gremlin on the cheeks. Said gremlin looked like he was about to say something, but he just let out a shuddering breath, and his eyes rolled back. He was dead. Juliet took the time to close his eyes and fold his hands, before turning to her brother. "We need to get out of here, Dom."**

** Butler nodded. "Mrs. Fowl," he said, "go get the twins from their room. I'll check to see if there's a clear exit route." **

** The Doctor faked a cough. "Perhaps you are forgetting, but I have a super-duper spaceship in your guest room, that _would technically _be the safest exit choice."**

** Artemis nodded. "He's right; we need to get every one inside the Doctor's ship." He turned to the door. "I'll go and get the twins; get everyone one into the-"**

** CLICK. Artemis opened the door to see the barrels of two pistols pointed in his face. Agent Stockard gave him a cold look. "I don't think that escape is in your best interest right now, Master Fowl." Before Butler or Holly could react, Stockard had put Artemis in a chokehold, cutting off his air, pointing one pistol at the boy's head and the other firmly trained at the group.**

** The Doctor immediately stepped up. "I don't think you want to do that, Agent. No need to cause anymore trouble; just hand over the boy and…"**

** "Good god, you never do stop preaching, do you?" Stockard growled. Before anyone else could react, he dropped the pistol that he had pointed at Artemis, and revealed a small device he had in that hand. It looked like a small disk, with a strange symbol engraved in the middle. He pressed it against Artemis' chest, and it began to whine.**

** "NO!" Butler yelled, instinctively knowing what would happen next would be bad. He and Holly rushed at Stockard, but then…**

** Where Artemis and Stockard once stood, there was nothing but a fading after image and the disk, now on the floor. The whining the disk made stopped, and it opened like a clam. **

** VVVVVVVVVVVVSSSSSSSSSSHHHH! A bright, searing light emitted from the tiny device, physically blowing everyone in the room five feet into the air. **

** When Holly finally woke up, the entire room was decimated. The walls were gone, revealing the hallway, the outside, and to the left, the room of Myles and Beckett, who were very much awake and very much terrified. The ceiling had been vaporized, letting in the night sky.**

** And no sign of Artemis.**

** "Artemis!" she yelled, not knowing why, as if her voice could bring him back. A hand clasped her shoulder. It was Juliet. "He's…gone" she said, still not believing it. **

** Everyone else began to wake up. Butler was rubbing his head, if from pain or the shame of letting Artemis get kidnapped, no one knew. Artemis Sr. was comforting Angeline, who in turn was trying to comfort the twins, who had ran to their mother, asking what happened. Mulch, Trouble and Luskar were trying to untangle Foaly from a pile of wreckage. **

**And the Doctor…the Doctor was sitting on the edge of where the wall used to be, dangling his feet over the edge while surveying the carnage. Ghor was no where to be found, but the camp was in ruins. Medical fairies where running this way and that, treating the wounded.**

**Foaly finally got to his feet. "…I feel the need to babble" he said randomly. "If anyone doesn't mind, I think I'll just talk. Relieve my stress."**

**The Doctor limply waved his hand. "By all means."**

** "That was one hell of a bomb. To me, it seemed like pure energy. I mean, light can't pick me up and throw me, so maybe it was some sort of thermal energy, like our bio-bombs. But what's interesting is that it didn't actually harm us, it just-"**

** "Okay, Foaly. _Now _you can stop talking." Butler said hoarsely. And for once, Foaly did. **

** Angeline looked like she was going to cry. "What happened?" she said, eye's wandering to the Doctor.**

** The Doctor, in turn, simply did a small shrug. "Simple teleportation. To where, I can only assume it's where Davros is." **

** Holly walked right up to the man. "Well, can't you do something?"**

** "What do you expect me to do?"**

"**Anything!" Holly exploded, letting her anger get the better of her. "You're so smart, so think of something! You're just going to let him take Artemis!?"**

"**You think I wanted this?! Planned for it?!" The Doctor shot back. "What am I supposed to do, eh? Find a kidnapped boy, when I don't know where he is, _when _he is, where he could have gone, and the kidnapper is a man who hates every fiber of my being, and I have thought to be dead for the last three hundred years, which frankly gives him a bit of a on-up on me."**

**Holly opened her mouth to say more, but she just closed it and sat down, head in hands, having exhausted all her anger. The Doctor could see that she was upset, and changed the tone of his voice.**

"**I will try, you know."**

"**Yeah, I know. I'll be right behind you."**

** "As will I" said Butler, brushing himself off.**

** "Same here" said Juliet. Foaly gave a nod, as did Mulch, who than poked Trouble in the ribs until he did the same. Luskar blew a soft stream of smoke from his nostrils, the goblin sign of agreement.**

** Myles stepped up to Doctor, putting on a brave face. "Me too" he said. Beckett nodded in agreement.**

** The Doctor chuckled. "Sorry, but you might want to ask your mother first."**

** Angeline came up and took the twins by the hands. "He's right boys. We're going to have to stay in Auntie Juliet's cabin for the next while." She led them away, presumably to go to Juliet's cabin. She passed by the Doctor, pausing only momentarily to whisper something in his ear.**

** "Please, get my boy back."**

** Artemis Sr. took Beckett from his wife, and giving a curt nod, followed his family out the door.**

** "Now what? Let me guess; we come up with a plan that involves putting me in a life-threatening situation" said Mulch. "I've come to expect that, you know. And I don't think that's a good thing."**

** "Considering what little we know," said Luskar, ignoring the dwarf, "perhaps it's best that we focus on information."**

** The Doctor nodded. "I'll tell you everything I know, but I don't know what good it'll do unless we have an idea of where Davros is. I mean, it's not like he's going to just magically appear-"**

** And at that exact moment, a large BOOOOOOOM shook the manor.**

** Everyone looked up to see that the object that had started this little misadventure was now no longer in the sky, because it was now suspended in the sky above the manor, and coming closer, and closer. But it didn't look like a meteor, or even a ship. It looked almost like…."**

** "Dear God" Butler whispered. **

** The horrible _thing _came to rest above the manor's roof, hovering with a dull droning noise that could be heard for miles around, and did indeed shatter windows as far as Dublin. The sight could be seen as well; costal towns as far as five miles saw a dark, bulbous shape floating over the Fowl estate.**

** Holly tried to swallow the fear she felt, but for the first time in her life, she just couldn't. She turned to the Doctor, to see something that did not assuage her fear; the man had turned a pale shade of ashen grey, with a bead of sweat going down his forehead. He was shaking, as if what he saw made him want t run.**

** "Wh... you know what this is, don't you?" Holly asked, secretly hoping the answer was 'no'. **

** But the Doctor nodded his head. His mouth was dry, and his answer came out like a hoarse whisper.**

** "It's the Nightmare Child." **


	16. Ch 15

**Chapter 15:**

**The Master Plan of the Master Race**

** The pain in Artemis' head was excruciating. He out a long, slow groan, and opened his eyes. His vision was blurred, but it soon came into focus, and the view was probably the last thing he wanted to see, if he knew what he was seeing. He was strapped into some kind of fleshy chair, which faced a large console and screen. The screen looked as if it was metal welded onto flesh, and the console was a strange combination of keyboard, touch screen, and organelles. **

** The room that Artemis and his console were situated in was on an odd curvature. The walls were some sort of metal, but they seemed to have tubes running through them, as if they were veins. The ceiling had a long rod running across the middle, as if supporting the weight. Like a spine.**

** ''**_**Like Jonah and the whale'', **_**thought Artemis. He considered what he just thought. ''…**_**Oh god, please tell me I'm not in the belly of some beast.''**_

_** ''Not exactly, my young genius'' **_**came a voice in his head. Artemis jerked his head left and right, but to the center of him, a door opened with a wet sliding sound. From it slid Davros, his face contorted in a twisted smile, his black teeth glistening.**

** ''Welcome, Artemis Fowl the Second'' he announced in a grandiose tone, raising his one arm to the air. ''How lovely that I finally have the privilege of meeting you face to face.''**

** '**_**'The same cannot be said for me'' **_**Artemis thought. But as the thought passed through his mind, a searing pain enveloped his cortex. He writhed and screamed for a few seconds, and then the pain faded away. **

** Davros chortled like he had just heard a funny joke, and then slid up to his captive. With his one arm, he reached up and patted Artemis on the back of his head. The boy realized there was something attached to the base of his skull. Davros grabbed hold of it, and brought it to the boy's face. It was a long, pink, fleshy tube, with veins running up and down it. Davros waggled it in front of Artemis' face, all the while still laughing.**

** ''My, my, Artemis. Is that any way to treat your host?''**

** Artemis wheezed in and out. ''What the… what the hell did…did you do to me?'' Davros let go of the tube, and grabbed the side of the chair. He twisted it as he slid on the ground, turning it so Artemis faced the screen and console.**

** ''What I have done, boy,'' said Davros, ''is merely out of necessity. You are the unchanging variable of my plan, and I will not let you, your friends, or that despicable Doctor deny me the fruits of my labour.'' **

** ''What do you mean, 'unchanging variable'?'' Artemis asked, pain still throbbing in his brain. **

** ''Ahhhhhh'' Davros sighed. ''True. You don't know your importance to me. Shall I tell you? As a sort of…down payment for your services?''**

** Artemis still felt the pain in his head, so he merely gave a quick nod. **

** ''Humans pride themselves on their technology; you're such a pompous race. Your 'internet' is millennia behind the information processing of even the lowest species. But even the obsolete can yield results. Specifically…'' Davros pointed to Artemis, "the Interpol ten-gigabyte file on the proclaimed genius Artemis Fowl the 2****nd****.''**

** Artemis rolled his eyes, causing another quick jolt to go down his cortex.**

**Davros tsk-ed. ''Even in defeat, you must be so defiant. No matter.'' The man slid to the dashboard, and clicked a few buttons. The screen flickered, and numbers began running up and down the length of the glass. Diagrams shifted and changed, and graphs began rapidly fluctuating. **

**Artemis' eyes widened. ''Incredible. What is this?''**

''**The genius resurfaces'' Davros chuckled. ''Which is exactly what my Daleks and I need.'' Davros pressed another button on the dashboard, and Artemis' hands were suddenly free. **

''**You will solve these equations. Once the final equation has been solved, you will have served your purpose. Now get to work, my young friend. My plan depends on your genius, but time is a factor that I do **_**not**_** have control of. Not yet.'' He pressed another button, then spun and slid out the door, which sealed with a pneumatic sucking sound.**

**Artemis felt the base of his neck tingle. ''**_**Not again. Please''**_** he thought. But instead of pain, he felt an immense calm. Like a pressure had been lifted from his chest. He looked straight at the screen. The equations; all that mattered now was the equations. **

**Artemis Fowl put his hands on the fleshy keyboard. It reacted like an organ being poked, but the boy didn't mind. He couldn't mind. All he saw were the equations. Graphs diagrams numbers the equations sequences locks gates Gallifrey relations quadratics 4****th**** dimensional energy signatures The War The Time Lords Elysium differentials decimals radiation spikes Rassilon's Decree temporal rifts The Void Boahiem's Theorem codes ciphers codex Medusa Cascade moderationals ghost signatures The Horde.**

** Artemis Fowl went to work. **


	17. Ch 16

**Chapter 16:**

**Invasion of the Pepper Pot Aliens**

** "The Nightmare Child" Butler groaned. "Why is it we never have to fight something that doesn't look like an evil death machine?"**

** Juliet snickered, mostly out of nervousness. "You don't think that looks threatening, do you Dom?" **

** "Not all of us have steel balls, big man" Mulch shuddered. Holly simply nodded, unable to chew Mulch out like she usually did when he made a lewd joke. She was too busy staring at the _thing._**

**The _thing _in question was the mysterious object that had started this whole misadventure, which was looking slightly less mysterious, and now slightly more pants-wettingly terrifying. It resembled, in both shape and design, a deep sea angler fish, minus the forehead dangler. Its skin was mottled black, with metal domes and turrets jutting out from its sides. A large metal thing, resembling a Haven traffic tunnel ran along its spine, culminating in a large metal 'helmet' which covered the top of its head. Its fins reflected, looking to Foaly like cham-foil. **

** Under its belly were large, circular engines, pulsing and glowing as they seemed to repel gravity. Its face, though, was its most horrible feature. Its teeth, molded from black metal, jutted far above its jawline, reaching almost comical-looking heights. And its eyes were a dull blue, the same colour as the engines, with no pupil. It felt as if the monstrous thing was surveying them all, staring straight through them as a predator would do to its prey.**

** Holly turned away from the horrible thing, shifting her gaze to The Doctor. He looked as if died standing straight up; white as a sheet, and a glazed over look in his eyes. "What the hell is it?" she asked him. The look in his eyes betrayed him; he had seen this thing before.**

** The Doctor licked his lips, trying to wet his dried out mouth. "The Nightmare Child," he started, "was a warship. In the First Cycle of the Time War , the Emperor of the Daleks ordered the creation of a special Dreadnought Class ship. His.._specifications _were that the ship been both grown and made; a bio-mechanical super weapon, one that could use strategy and utilize animalistic defense systems as weapons. The resulting ship specialized in only one specific field."**

** "That field being?" Luskar asked. **

** "Complete annihilation of enemy fleets."**

** "Oh." **

** "So, your friend got a hold of it. But why bring it here? Trouble asked.**

** The Doctor pursed his lips. "The more important question is, how did he get a hold of it? The Nightmare Child was locked inside the War with everything else, and the Child's brain hates Davros on a psychological level. Last I remember, it swallowed his escape ship when the Emperor invaded his sanctuary planet."**

** "Whoopee for the giant space fish" Mulch cried, throwing his hands in the air. "That still doesn't solve the problem."**

** "What problem is that, O wise one?" Foaly whinnied. **

** "WHY IN THE HELL DID IT COME HERE?! DOESN'T THAT SEEM LIKE A PROBLEM, DONKEY BOY!?"**

** Just then, the beast gave a guttural growl, causing everybody to wince in pain and cover their ears. A metal sphere on the beasts side opened, and something shot out and flew down to the group.**

** It was Davros, riding on a floating disk. He smiled at the group; a vicious, predatory smile that seemed to say '_I beat you all. Take that!' _He raised his one arm, and pointed at The Doctor.**

** "No more games, Doctor. I have what I desire, so this location has no more use to me."**

** Holly stiffened. "'What you desire'?" she said angrily. "What did you do to Artemis?"**

** Davros sneered at the girl. "...Therefore," he continued, "I see no to waste my time and resources destroying this waste of land. The only reason I would is because you are here."**

** "Say what you mean, Davros" The Doctor said.**

** "I am feeling fairly lenient. If you leave now, and stay out of my way, I will spare the lives of these pathetic creatures."**

** The Doctor smiled a sad smile. "I can't leave, and you know me well enough to know that I won't. My answer should be apparent."**

** Davros returned the Doctors smile with his own. " I do know, Time Lord." Davros clicked a button on his dashboard, and the bottom of the Nightmare Child opened.**

** Thousands of _things_ flowed out of the opening, flying around until they create a levitating circle around Fowl Manor. One of the things detached from the circle, and flew down to Davros. **

** It was large and bulky, white in colour, and easily came close to matching Butler in height. It resembled a pepper pot; its bottom half consisting of a large circular tread, and bumps that ran up along its sides. The top half consisted of two arms, one that looked like a plunger, the other like the gun Butler had seen the trolls carrying. A black, segmented neck led to the head, a white dome with two side lights and an eye stalk.**

** Foaly felt sick. The eye stalk held the same eye that they saw in the video. These things were what destroyed _Olympus._ **

** The Dalek, for of course this what it must be, swiveled its head to face Davros. "Your or-ders, Lord Davros" it said, booming in a low bass voice.**

** Davros smiled. "Up to your discretion, Dalek Supreme." With that, the wizened man clicked another switch on his dashboard, and his floating disk flew him up into the air, and back up to the Nightmare Child.**

** The Dalek Supreme took time to view each of the strange creatures before it. "You are The Doctor" it said, resting its gaze on the Time Lord.**

** "Hello" The Doctor said.**

** "You are the Predator, the enemy of all Daleks. Daleks law states that you must be exterminated on sight. You must die to ensure the safety of the plan."**

** "Oh, there's a plan now, is there" The Doctor seethed. "Is that why you kidnapped an innocent boy from his home?"**

** "Data banks state that subject Artemis Fowl the Second is guilty of numerous human crimes, therefore does not warrant the label 'innocent'."**

** The Doctor turned to his friends. "I'm sorry, what?"**

** "Tell you later" Juliet said.**

** "The human's legal status is irrelevant," the Dalek said. "His intellect is the unchanging variable, the necessary requirement in the completion of the plan. You will not interfere."**

** Butler got up close to the alien, looking it straight in the eye. "And if we do?" he said coldly.**

** "Exactly what I was going to say" The Doctor said.**

** "Then precautions will be taken." The Dalek turned its eye to the sky. "All Daleks will arm weapons systems"**

** "Affirmative" echoed the thousands of Daleks in the sky. A great hum was heard, and the sky lit up with the energy of the alien weapons. **

** The Doctor tensed up. It was Attack Pattern 15. Time Lord veterans had called it the Flying Ring of Death. The Daleks would circle you from the sky, and decimate everything. In this case, everything meant the dumbstruck LEP officers on the ground, staring at the aliens that had appeared.**

** Trouble sensed what was about to happen. "GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!" he shouted.**

** "All Daleks will now release" The Supreme Dalek droned. "Exterminate!"**

** "Exterminate! Exterminate!" the Daleks screeched, and a literal block of light, the condensed beams of so many weapons, dropped down straight onto the LEP officers on the ground, who didn't even have time to hear Troubles order. **

** Holly had to turn away and squeeze her ears closed, but she still saw the light through her eyelids, and could still hear the screaming. When she opened her eyes, when the screaming stopped, what she saw made tears flow like they wouldn't stop.**

** A neat black circle had been burnt into the ground. So great was the intensity of the beams that the skin of all the officers had burned away, leaving black skeletons lying all over the ground, their joints fused in mad poses by the heat that still came off them in waves of smoke. The shuttles and equipment were nothing but pools of liquid metal, seeping into the ground and across the fields. **

** Butler was horrified. He had seen men turned inside out from grenade blasts, but the scene he saw from his vantage point marked the first time he wanted to cry from the horror; only his training kept him from weeping. Luskar and Trouble were the same; Foaly threw up, and Mulch put his arm around Juliet , who had dropped to the ground weeping into her hands.**

** The Doctor stood firm, in silent fury. He marched, slowly, straight up to the Supreme Dalek and grabbed its eye stalk, pulling it so the thing was staring him in the face.**

** "You...will... regret that. .Understand?"**

** The Dalek was silent. Then, "All Daleks, return to the Nightmare Child in preparation for Phase Two." **

** The Supreme Dalek emitted a glow beneath its treads, and slowly levitated up into the air. The Daleks were flying now, in a organized swarm, back into the belly of the Nightmare Child. When the last of the Daleks had entered, the opening closed again, and the living warship slowly flew to rest at the center of the lake that bordered Fowl Manor, leaving behind a dwarf, a centaur, a goblin, two elves, two humans, and a Time Lord that silently swore he would destroy the vile creatures in its belly once and for all. **

** The Doctor turned on his heels, and strode to the door that still stood in the decimated room. He turned his head at his new companions. "Do you know anyone who has enough power to bend time?"**

** Holly rubbed away her tears. "Yeah, we know one. Why?"**

** "Because I have a plan." The Doctor took the TARDIS key out of his pocket. "Lets go get Artemis back."**


	18. Ch 17

**Chapter 17:**

**Out of the Frying Pan,**

**Into the Volcano**

** No.1 had been sitting in the same position for five hours now. **

** At the Bruin Fadda Warlock College, he was gaining a reputation for both his innovation and his power. He had already figured out how to cure the Swear Toad epidemic, made breakthroughs in proving the Gaia Theorem, and reportedly he and The Alchemy Department had turned coal into silver.**

** Now the young demon was trying to figure out intangibility. The Art of Wind Masquerade, as the ancients had called it. Reportedly, at the Battle of Taliate, a elf warlock named Due Shadueil had become intangible, walking straight through the human armies to stab their leader dead with one blow. But at the second the human general fell, Due's skull was crushed in by the general's second in command, and the secret was lost.**

** Now No.1 was trying to rediscover the secret. Qwan had given his apprentice use of the main experiment room, and locked the door from the outside, ordering everyone not to disrupt the young prodigy. **

** For five hours No.1 sat in that room, staring at the rock on the table in front of him. By using minerals, the process could be discovered and then refined to accomadate living beings. For five hours No.1 had been chanting and pumping magic into the rock, refining the amounts, mixing energy signatures, repeating chants backwards, anything. But the rock had yet to pass through the table onto the floor. So now he was just staring at the rock, directing all his magic onto the rock to affect it at a molecular level, in hopes of shifting the atoms enough to move it through the tabletop.**

** "_Come on, rock. Move for No.1" _he thought. "_Just for a second. Fall through the table, and we can both get out of here."_**

**A minute passed. Then two. The rock stayed where it was...but then, No.1 felt a breeze against his skin. The air in the room was circulating, creating a mini vortex. The rock began trembling on the table; no, the whole table was trembling! No.1 kept his magic focused on the rock, convinced it would become intangible. "_It's a lot noisier than I expected" _he thought.**

** Just then, a dull groaning noise slowly faded in, and a strange shape began to form around the rock and table. It was ghostly, but soon became whole. A blue rectangular box had formed around the table. No.1 was so shocked, he fell off the chair he was perched on.**

** Then, the front of the box opened up. A bright light was coming from the inside, but No.1 could see a silhouette in the center of the box's door frame. It looked like a tall, lanky Mud Man, with a tweed jacket and a bow tie. The man looked right through the young demon, and held out his hand.**

** "Come with me" he said simply. And without a second thought, No.1 did.**

** "Another adventure, eh?" said No.1 after the situation had been explained to him. He was sitting on the TARDIS' couch, trying to resist the urge to reach over and flick buttons on the console. **

** Holly nodded. "Pretty much. Apparently, you'd be able to help us, however..." she stared at The Doctor, "...he hasn't explained how. Which is annoying, seeing as he just convinced us to kidnap the most powerful warlock in Haven."**

** No.1 blushed. "Happy to help." He turned to The Doctor. What do you want me to do?"**

** The Doctor began working the console. "Two things, is all. First, I'll have to get us there." He pulled a lever, and the whole control lurched. Everyone grabbed a hold of something, to prevent themselves from sailing over the railings into the engine room below.**

** The Doctor was clicking buttons and pulling levers like a madman. The TARDIS flipped to and fro, until finally it stopped rocking. The Doctor grabbed No.1 by the arm, and pulled him to the door.**

** "You can tell if somethings is from a different time, right?" said The Doctor. No.1 nodded. Then, a massive BOOM shook the entire TARDIS. Everyone grabbed hold of something again, feeling the shock resonate through their bones.**

** The Doctor opened the door. They were back at Fowl Manor, above the lake. It was apparent what the BOOM was. They were circling around the Nightmare Child, much like a fly would circle a bull. It seems whatever Daleks were in charge of the weapon systems thought it would be a good idea to fire on the tiny ship flitting around. **

** "What I want you to do is tell me when that thing is from! Alright?!" the Doctor yelled over the din. No.1 nodded, and began to focus his energies. Temporal divination is not a day-to-day tool in the warlock arsenal, so it took a bit of time to get in the right state of mind. So before No.1 could divinate, he had to meditate. He sat in the doorway of the TARDIS, humming to himself.**

** "ANY TIME NOW WOULD BE GREAT!" Butler yelled from across the control room.**

** Then, it all slipped away. The noise, the shock waves, all of it. No.1's mind became clear, and he was floating in a void. Suddenly, in the black, there was light. Tiny, pinpoint windows of light. No.1 stared into one of the windows. It was a city, encased in a dome, surrounded by mountains. Over the mountains were giant saucer ships, blasting away at it. **

** "_Alright"_ thought No.1. "_The one I'm looking for should be right around...Here!"_**

** The young demon peered into another window. There it was, the giant fish ship. Flying through space, blasting at cities, destroying armadas with its massive jaws.**

** _"Wish I could fast forward through all this." _Then, "..._There!"_**

**No.1 stared at the window. A swirling, green gas cloud in space was what he saw. Then, lightning bolts. Currents of electricity striking through the cloud. The bolts converged on one spot, and the nonexistent air seemed to bend and shift. The space bulged, shimmered, and... the fish ship simply phased into the cloud. No sound, no light, no explosion. It just faded in, dispersing the particle clouds. Then, it started moving.**

** While No.1's mind was wandering, his body was firmly planted in the TARDIS. The Doctor was holding onto the door frame, afraid to go back to the console lest the little demon fall out.**

** Suddenly, No.1 opened his eyes. "Temporal point of origin is exactly 441 years, 3 month, and 9.5 days ago. Date when it entered this time-line is exactly 1 year ago. First spacial point in this time-line is universal coordinates 3-67-89-03.3, 8-37-75-0.2."**

** The Doctor grimaced. "The Medusa Cascade." He closed the TARDIS doors and sprinted towards the console. "Keep doing exactly what you're doing" he ordered No.1. The demon nodded, and began his meditation rhythm again.**

** "What's the Medusa Cascade?" Foaly whinnied, hugging the console for dear life.**

** "The Medusa Cascade," The Doctor grunted, spinning a console wheel, "is a weakened part of space-time. My people used to use it to power the time vortex we used to time travel." He spun over to the other side of the console. "The thing is, once every year, the Cascade weakens even more than usual. It becomes so unstable, that anything, even a time-locked spaceship can break through, provided it had the equipment to navigate the temporal storm and one hell of an engine."**

** Trouble climbed his way up to the console. "So that's how the big fish got here?"**

** "Most likely. But the thing is, even the Nightmare Child isn't powerful enough to break through the Cascade. But the Cascade itself is getting weaker by the century. Gallifrey? Lost in the time lock. The only reason I was able to show it to you is because the Cascade has become so weak, that parts of history bleed through, no matter what protocols or locks are in place."**

** "And this didn't concern you? Like, AT ALL?" Juliet asked.**

** The Doctor simply shrugged, and checked the screen on the console. He ran down the gangplank and threw open the doors.**

** The TARDIS was in space again, circling a red-green cloud galaxy silently twisting in the black. Bolts of energy-lighting streaked across the clouds. The Doctor motioned for No.1 to join him.**

** "Now," said The Doctor, "I want you to feel out the Cascade."**

** "Pardon?" Luskar asked.**

** No.1 grinned. He loved giving lectures. "When an event takes place, it leaves behind a sort of signature. A warlock can _feel out _certain aspects of that event, right down to the past of a specific individual."**

**"Or his intention for the future" The Doctor said. "Hopefully."**

**No.1 sat down on the floor, and The Doctor sat across from him. The Time Lord placed his hands onto No.1's temples, and began to meditate.**

** "Mind giving me a magic boost, Holly?" No.1 asked. "Something like this is a massive power drain." **

** Holly placed her hand on No.1's shoulder. "Just make it up to me later." Blue sparks ran down Holly's hand and sank into No.1's skin.**

** The young demon began to chant slowly, his stumpy horns glowing. The Doctor, in his mind, felt himself being dragged into No.1' conscious, until he found himself in a blue space, looking at a ethereal version of the warlock.**

** "You know, usually when this happens on T.V. the space is supposed to be black."**

** No.1 shrugged. "Black's depressing. I like to think blue is more positive."**

** The Doctor clasped the left hand of the demon. "Now, just focus on the picture you saw last time, and will be transported-"**

** FWSHHSSS. The two were now floating in the clouds of the Medusa Cascade. The Nightmare Child was hovering directly in front of them. No.1 knew this was an illusion of the past, but he could swear to his dying day that the giant ship-beast was looking at him, as if to say "_I will eat you soon". _**

**No time for fear, though. No.1 and The Doctor floated themselves up to the head of the ship-beast, floating through the skull into the control room. Ghostly-looking Daleks were sliding all around, tweaking machines and barking muted orders. In the center of the room sat Davros on a raised pedestal, looking out of the giant porthole in the center of the Child's skull.**

** "That's the one in charge" said The Doctor, pointing to Davros.**

** "Which one?" said No.1. "One of the little floating peg things, or the big scary guy sitting in the captains chair?". He was getting the hand of this sarcasm thing.**

** The Doctor floated up to Davros. "I'll overlook that. Now, what I need you to do is..."**

** "...read his mind, basically. Yes, I know what I'm doing." **

** The Doctor looked slightly put-out. "Alright then, Mr. Magicky Warlock, do your thing."**

**No.1 floated over to Davros' head. He focused his thoughts onto the ghost of the man in front of him, sifting through his memories. "_Come on," _thought No.1, _"there must be something. Everyone wants to do something, so what are you going to...?"_**

**No.1 felt it. Faintly at first. A visceral, black blob that sat in the dark recesses of this man's mind. The Doctor felt it too. "That's it" he said. "No.1, go deeper."**

** No.1 obliged. He sent a small stream of focused magic into the blob, hoping to unlock it.**

** The blob did not unlock; it exploded. No.1 thought he heard a BOOOOM, and wave after wave of black fury struck the two, throwing them back, away from Davros, out of the ship, into space. It kept pushing at them; images flashed through their heads, images of a giant mass flying through space, destroying ships and consuming everything. **

** The shock was so great, it forced both The Doctor and No.1 back into the world of the living. No.1 collapsed onto the floor of the TARDIS, hyperventilating. Holly and Juliet rushed to help him. Butler ran to The Doctors aide, as the Time Lord was on his hands and knees. He felt like he had taken an anvil to the stomach.**

** Trouble slammed the TARDIS door shut, and got down onto his knees in front of The Doctor. "What the hell was that?"**

** The Doctor opened his mouth to answer, and promptly threw up onto the floor. When he was finished puking, he sat with his back against the railing, collecting his breath.**

** "Davros is insane" he gasped. "I knew he...I knew he was mad, but this is just going too far."**

** "Not one good word in that sentence" Mulch grumbled**

** "SHUT UP, Mulch!" Holly yelled in his face.**

** Luskar leaned close. "What _did_ you see?"**

** The Doctor held up a finger, and put his head over the rail to throw up again. When he was again finished, he told them.**

** "Davros, he was always getting the Emperor to sponsor his projects during the war, no matter how insane. When...he was trying to recreate the Nightmare Child, he tried to install a...a hive mind, so all the clones could move in unison with the original. And he...he ended up creating an even more dangerous living weapon."**

** "_Just what I wanted to hear" _Trouble thought.**

** "The Gallifrey generals, they called it The Horde of Travesties. Millions of creatures, all of them starving and able to survive anything; they could even fly through space. Each and every one of them is guided by one, shared mind."**

** "Let me guess" Holly said, "they're trapped somewhere around Earth, right?"**

** The Doctor smiled. "Who says science-fiction doesn't teach us anything?" Butler helped him get up and guided him to one of the benches. "The scientists on Gallifrey found something left behind by the Eternals; The Gates of Elysium. It was able to send something into the space between dimensions; The Void. A fleet was sent to capture the Horde, and they..._it..._was trapped."**

** A light went off in Juliet's head. "So this guy is just trying to get his super-powered pet weapons back?"**

** The Doctor nodded. "Which explains why he took Artemis. The lock on The Gates requires 15 Time Lords to open, but with Davros' intellect he might be able to figure out another way to open it. He must be using Artemis as a bio-computer to "pick" the lock."**

** "What's with this guy and bio-stuff?" Mulch asked. Holly didn't bother to tell him to shut up, she merely punched him in the gut. **

** While Mulch was on the ground, holding his gut in the fetal position, Holly knelt down beside The Doctor. "When you say "computer"..."**

** "We need to get him out of there" The Doctor said. "I've seen people that Davros has used as his 'machines'."**

** Butler responded to that news by cracking his knuckles. "So what do we do?"**

** The Doctor slowly limped over to No.1, who had finally calmed down. "How're you feeling?"**

** "Better, thanks."**

** "Good." The Doctor looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry to ask, but I need your help one more time."**

** No.1 put on his brave face. "What with?" he asked.**

** "What I'm planning right now is going to be fairly difficult, so we'll need help. _Lots _of help. And you and me are going to get in touch with some people..." **


	19. Ch 18

**Chapter 18:**

**The Many Familiar Faces**

** "ALERT. ALERT." There was something wrong. The energy scanners were going crazy; something was bothering the Child. "Open all scanners" Artemis commanded. **

** All energy levels were off-chart. The boy fired off a diagnostic, impulses in his brain firing. "Temporal energy detected" the computer said.**

** Temporal energy. Meant a breach in the time vortex. Artemis ran his fingers across the nerve-board. The Scientists on level 24 had to be alerted; something was tampering with the gateway at the Cascades. Something was trying to bring another variable into the equation.**

** Artemis stopped. The equations. The Scientists had been warned, the conformation light confirmed. Back to the equations...17=83972932[8{98484747]8439284082734+9384838=8465837 to the power of E, 7878.90280070% power must be diverted, 92872018392...**

** "WHAT THE D'ARVIT IS THIS SUPPOSED TO DO AGAIN?"**

** Foaly was, for the fourth time in his life, absolutely terrified. The Doctor had said that in order to get in touch with the people he needed, they would have to "open the Vortex and split it with a wedge". He had very successfully explained that splitting the Vortex (whatever the hell that meant) at the wrong instance would cause the TARDIS to explode. Before they had started, Mulch asked the Doctor if they could first go back in time, so that the dwarf could make sure he never met any of them in his life.**

** The Doctor considered it for a moment, and refused.**

** Now, splitting the very essence of time and space requires a lot of power, and an open rift into the vortex. This should be defined as a Haramien Nexus generator, a frequency modulator, and a carefully controlled time portal. Unfortunately, what they had was a teenaged demon warlock, and a clunky old time engine.**

** "That should do just fine" the Doctor had said. Luskar immediately strapped himself onto the TARDIS couch.**

** Now the gamble was taking place. The Doctor had opened all the doors to the time engine, and commanded everyone not to look into it. Everyone turned away.**

** "NOW" he yelled over the roaring time engines, "I WANT YOU TO DO SOMETHING." He pointed at No1. **

** "WHAT?" **

"**YOU SEE THE BALL OF ENERGY AT THE CENTER OF THE ENGINE?" **

** "THE THING I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO LOOK AT?" **

** " I WANT YOU TO LOOK AT IT!"**

** "YOU ARE KIDDING ME!"**

** Now No1 stood in front of the howling vortex at the center of the time engine, with the Doctor clasping his temples. "Now" the Doctor whispered in his ear, "I'll provide the pictures of the people. You just have to find them and grab them."**

** No1 nodded his head. He began to chant his demon chant, and raised his arms. Blue lightning leapt from his finger tips, snaking into the vortex. Images flashed through the warlocks mind, as the Doctor put himself in a trance for complete focus.**

** Though he was told not to look, Butler craned his neck ever so slightly to see what was going on. What he saw was the interior of a time machine filled with fairies, its engines opened so a demon warlock could pump magic into it to retrieve the friends of a alien he needed to help save his employer from genocidal robots in a flying spaceship fish.**

** _"This is my life" _he thought. **

** No1 was having no picnic. Images kept flashing and flashing; it was getting harder to discern who was needed. Did The Doctor really know this many people?**

** There! The last person. No1 now focused all his magic, and with a mighty heave, 'yanked' the people he caught back into the present day. However, they did not come quietly. The shock of bring so many people caused a mini explosion, sending wisps of temporal energy flying everywhere around the TARDIS. Its occupants were thrown against the walls (again) and tumbled all over the place.**

** Holly groaned. Her body wouldn't survive past 100 years with this constant battering. She slowly turned on her side, and yelped. The man she was looking at yelped to, and jumped to his feet. He hadn't been there a minute ago, and he sure didn't look familiar. The man was tall and lanky, with a brown coat and a long multicoloured scarf running down to his ankles. His brown hair curled and poofed out of his head, and his eyes bugged out of his head, threatening to roll down his tomahawk nose.**

** The man twirled his head around his shoulders, eyes darting. "Who the hell are you?!" he demanded. "Where am I?! Well?!" **

** Holly stared, then instinctively pulled her mini-Neutrino off her belt. "I'd ask the same of you, Mud Man."**

** The curly haired man stopped, and put up his hands. He flashed his teeth in a smile. "Uhhhh...hehe. I'm sorry, I came off a bit strong didn't I?" He stuck his hand out. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the-"**

** Then, Holly felt another man come up behind her. She swung around, and found the barrel of her gun stuck up the nose of another curly-haired man. But he was older, with snow-white hair and wrinkles that made him look very wise. He wore a shoulder cape over a flamboyantly striped suit. **

** "Who are you, young lady?" he said. He spoke with a slight lisp. Before Holly could answer, the white haired man noticed the scarf man behind her. Instantly his face twisted. "YOU!"**

** "Oh, you." **

** Holly was really confused now. But then it clicked; these two must be who the Doctor was talking about. The white haired man ran up and grabbed the scarf man by the collar. "How are you here?" he said.**

** "And I'd like to know _why _are _we _here?" replied the scarf man. "I don't recognize the surroundings...maybe it's Omega again?"**

** "Don't be daft. Omega's dead. I saw that with my own eyes."**

** Holly and the two men swirled on their heels to see a third man by the TARDIS doors. He was young, with blonde hair and a baby face with flawless skin. He wore a white cricket suit, looking very respectful if not for the celery stalk he had in his pocket.**

** "Now, what are you two doing here?" said celery man. "Why are we here..." He looked at Holly. "And who the hell is that?"**

** "That is exactly what I want to ask" Holly wheezed. She pointed her gun at celery man. "Now, who are all you stu-"**

** Butler lumbered over, and stuck his head down to Holly's level. "Before you finish that sentence, you might want to come check this out." He glared at the three men. "You three as well."**

** The scarf and white-haired man straightened themselves out, and the celery man overtook them as the five of them walked up the railway and onto the TARDIS control platform. What Holly saw blew her mind.**

** There were seven other men standing amidst the group already there. The first was an elderly man in a fancy Victorian suit, his bleach-white hair flowing down to his shoulders. The second man was also elderly, but with a brown bowl cut hair. What struck Holly was that the man had on a respectable suit jacket, but below his waist was a Scottish kilt, with knicker-bockers and buckle shoes.**

** The next man wore a rainbow suit, with an arched back and a orange afro. The man beside him had a regal appearance, with brown hair, a dark blue suit jacket, and a pocket watch hanging out of his lapel. **

** The next man was short, with a straw fedora and a brown smokers jacket with golf pants. He had an umbrella hanging from his arm, with a question mark handle. The two men beside him looked the most normal; the man on his right had a shaved head, with a black shirt, pants, and leather jumper. The man on the left wore a blue pin-strip suit with stick-up hair and a warm gaze.**

** Foaly kept clopping his front hooves. "Am I the only one here thinking this box is getting crowded?"**

** The spiky-haired man smiled. " A centaur. I don't know what I'm doing here, but this is fantastic. Isn't that right, Doctor?"**

** "Indubitably, Doctor" said the umbrella man. **

** Juliet rubbed her head. "See, this is more confusing than usual."**

** Trouble guffawed. "Indeed."**

** Holly put her gun back on her belt. "Alright, now this _is_ starting to get confusing. Now, why don't we start figuring this out. Where's the Doctor?"**

** All the strange men raised their right hands. Luskar began banging his head against the pole his couch was hanging on.**

** Butler cracked his knuckles. "I am annoyed" he said. "The last time I was annoyed, I punched my way out of a steel pirate ship. So I want everyone here I don't know to explain themselves. NOW."**

** The rainbow suit man glared at the manservant. "Was that a threat, sir? Because I think you'll find-"**

** "Oh, can it, you flamboyant pruss" the shaved head man said. "How I came from you never made sense."**

** Pocket-watch man chuckled. "Nothing ever made sense with him"**

** "And what does that mean, _pourquois?_"**

** "Nothing...catman"**

** Spiky-hair and shaved head both snickered.**

** The elderly white-haired man turned to the kilt man. "We really became idiots, didn't we?"**

** "Indeed we did?"**

** Mulch raised his hand. "Question; what the hell is going on?"**

** Suddenly, the Doctor came barreling up the TARDIS stairs, carrying No1 on his back. "OH! Good, your all here." He slumped the exhausted No1 onto a chair, and stood in front of all the strange men. "Now, hello. Welcome to my TARDIS."**

** "Oh my giddy AUNT!" the kilt man yelled. "This is the TARDIS? This is what you did to the poor girl?"**

** The Doctor's face fell. "Y...You don't like it?"**

** Celery man looked around. "A bit...cluttered, in my opinion."**

** "Very" said kilt man.**

** "I preferred mine, to be brutally honest" said shaved head.**

** "I like it" spiky-hair said sympathetically. "Even if it is kind of... childish"**

** "CHILDISH?" said the Doctor.**

** "Very" repeated kilt man.**

** "It looks like a playground that was designed by M.C Escher" said scarf man. "And he was off his head, the poor lad."**

** "Oh, I remember him" said umbrella man. "Didn't I meet him during that mess with the Helhashi?"**

** "No..." pocket-watch said, "...I believe it was the Grand Master of the Riru."**

** "The Grand Master?" said rainbow suit. "You still associate with him?"**

** "He's still alive?" said white-hair**

** Holly couldn't take anymore. "EXCUSE ME! WHO THE D'ARVIT ARE ALL OF YOU? BECACUSE IF SOME DOESN'T STARTING ANSWERIG RIGHT NOW, I AM GOING TO TAKE MY GUN AND SHOVE IT STRAIGHT UP SOMEONES-"**

** The Doctor walked up straight to Holly and wrapped his hand around her mouth. "I was getting to that, Holly. No need for shoving guns in unfriendly places." The Doctor walked around his friends and turned, waving his arms around the control room. "As you know, I am an alien. And the really interesting thing about my species, is that when we die, we have the ability to..."**

** "What does this have to do with anything?" Foaly asked. He reared his left hind leg and gave Luskar a slight kick, as he had fallen asleep again.**

** "...My species" the Doctor continued, "when we die, our bodies release massive amounts of energy and rejuvenate ourselves. A literal resurrection, if you will."**

** Luskar, rubbing sleep from his eyes, puffed smoke in annoyance. "So, what does that have to do with all these people?"**

** The Doctor smiled. "I've regenerated my body, fully, about ten times. And the thing with regeneration is that, your body changes completely. So, you keep on living, but …._you_ die, and someone else goes walking away."**

** Butler was always known for picking up on things, and he quickly put two and two together. "So, these people..."**

** "Each and every single man here, is me. Say hello to my past lives," the Doctor moved his hands around the room, "the Doctor, the Doctor, the Doctor, the Doctor, the Doctor, the Doctor, the Doctor, the Doctor, the Doctor, and the Doctor."**

** _"Oh, gods above" _Trouble thought. "_There's eleven of him."_**


	20. Ch 19

**Chapter 19:**

**The Doctors Think Up A Plan**

** Like most great geniuses, Foaly's childhood memories of school often had a recurring theme of not being included in something. Crunch ball matches, parties, projects. He was now having an impromptu flashback to those moments, as he now sat fuming on the sidelines as the Doctors snipped back and forth at themselves in a circle. **

** "We should destroy it sooner than later!" snapped Doctor 9.**

** "But what about the boy on board? We can't just leave him!" Doctor 3 snapped back.**

** "Think straight, you old fool" Doctor 6 said. "It's either one teenager or the Earth!"**

** "I will NOT have that boy's death on my conscience" Doctor 1 said, crossing his arms.**

** Foaly pounded the floor with his front hoof, making a loud clanging. "Might I make a suggestion?"**

** "SHUT UP!" came the reply from every Doctor, too engrossed in their argument to take notice of the centaur. Foaly flared his nostrils, and took a step back, standing beside Holly.**

** "Don't take it personally' she said, biting her lips. "We're all a little tense right now." **

** "Tense I understand" Foaly grunted. "But ignoring good input-"**

** "S'matter, horsey?" Mulch said, "not used to being ignored?" **

** All of a sudden, Doctor 4 slammed his right hand on the TARDIS control panel. "That's it! We're all idiots; it's been staring us in the face!" All the occupants of the TARDIS looked the beaked-nose man.**

** "The Gates of Elysium" Doctor 4 said, waving his hands. "Anything that comes through is tagged by an energy signature that allows it to pass through again."**

** Butler looked at the Doctor for an explanation. "The Eternals, the ones who made the Gates, were paranoid that less civilized species would try to steal their technology for use in war" the Doctor explained.**

** "In order to protect the Gates" Doctor 7 continued, "they created a system; they reversed engineered the energy signature of the Time Vortex, and 'attached' it to anything they sent through the Gates..."**

** Juliet's eyes lit up. "Like a bar-code!"**

** "Yes" said Doctor 8. "If the Gates don't read the signature, it won't accept whatever is trying to get inside."**

** "They only way Davros could get The Horde out of the Gates is if he has a way to replicate the signature onboard the Nightmare Child" said Doctor 9. **

** "Then that explains it" said Doctor 2. **

** Trouble didn't like being excluded from the conversation. "Explains what?"**

** "Why Davros took your friend" said Doctor 5. "Not just to get the Gates open; he could have easily done that himself. All the calculations to open the Gates are just icing on the cake; what he really needs this Fowl boy for is to re-engineer the signature to let the Horde pass through."**

** Holly felt a knot twist in her gut. "And then what?"**

** Doctor 10 looked uneasy. "The Horde will be free, and will consume Earth."**

** "Well, that's not very fair, is it?" said whined Mulch, knowing all too well what 'consumed' meant'. "Why Earth? What does Dervas have against us?"**

** "Nothing" said the Doctor, looking very sullen. "The Horde will be weakened after decades within Elysium; Earth is simply a snack meant to get its energy back. Technically speaking, Davros _could_ have opened the Gates anywhere..."**

** "And he chose Earth because...?" Butler said, half knowing the answer.**

** All the Doctors smirked. "To spite me...us" said Doctor 10.**

** Luskar, who was reclining on the TARDIS couch, sat up and blew a funnel of smoke from his nostrils. "Well then," he said, "it seems Fowl's rescue is our top priority."**

** "Rescue? Yes," grumbled Doctor 6, "rescue him from the most powerful warship ever designed by the most ruthless race ever to exist, lead by a genocidal tyrant who plans to unleash a hive-mind death swarm. Rescue is the only option."**

** "Exactly" Holly said, face hard. "The best way to do this is in two teams; one goes for Artemis, the other wrecks havoc until we can get out."**

** "But then we still have Davros and all his Daleks to contend with" said the Doctor. **

** Doctor 4 rubbed his temples. "How did I become so absent minded? The energy signature, you fool!"**

** The Doctor fiddled with his bowtie, pondering what he just heard, then suddenly his face lifted up. "OH! OH-HO that is good!"**

** Foaly, still mad about being kept in the dark, ventured a question. "What's good, _pour quois?_" layering on a condescending voice.**

** The Doctor took no notice of Foaly's tone, and instead began fiddling with knobs on the control board. "Someone go wake up No1," he said, "we've got a plan to rehearse!"**


	21. Ch 20

**Chapter 20:**

**Boarding the Fish**

**"****ALERT" , ****blazed the computer screen that sat above the face of Artemis Fowl. In one fluid motion, the brain-jacked genius willed everything away from his attention and focused on the one solitary screen in front of him.**

** "Computer, Terminal Main acknowledges" Artemis intoned with no emotion. "State origin of emergency"**

** The warning went away, to be replaced by a bright orange mass. It was a Scientist; the coned shape of the head and multi-occular eye-stalk meant it was Head Scientist Draag.**

** "LAB 416 REPORTS ION EMMISIONS IN ENGINE ROOM 7" Draag shrilled. "HEAVY ENERGY SIGNATURES INDICATES FOREIGN MATTER."**

** "Is this of concern? Foreign matter denotes that said matter is unknown, and that which is unknown has equal probability to be harmless or dangerous."**

** Draag's eye-stalk dimmed, and a whirring sound indicated a switching of lens. He was re-reading the report from Lab-416.**

** "SCANS REPORT CHRONOLOGICAL DISTURBANCE. IT IS THE DOCTOR!"**

** Artemis' mind ran through hundreds of possible scenarios. Settling on the appropriate course of action, he terminated the link with Draag and proceed to open communications with Head Strategist Sken.**

** Onto the screen flashed Sken; a bright blue Strategist with a crest remeniscent of a Spartan.**

** "EXPLAIN THIS INTERRUPTION, TERMINAL" Sken boomed, his voice crackling the speakers.**

** "Lab 416 reports that The Doctor has boarded The Nightmare Child" Aretmis said. "I request for an immediate assembling of Strategists to deal with the problem"**

** Sken was silent, and then; "STRATEGISTS WILL BE ASSEMBLED"**

** Meanwhile, in Engine Room 7, the TARDIS sprang into existence, and out popped Doctor 7. **

** Dear God" he said. "This thing is an absolute monstrosity."**

** Butler stepped out of the TARDIS, observing the room. It was a massive cacaphony of tendrils and veins, all hooked up to strange metals baubles on the ceiling. "Quite" he growled at Doctor 7.**

** Holly quickly stepped out, followed by Mulch, Juliet, Luskar, Trouble, and a flood of Doctors. "Now, we all have a general idea of what we're doing, yeah?"**

** "Find Artemis, blow stuff up, don't let evil monsters eat Earth" Juliet said. "All the boring, usual stuff."**

** Doctor 9 looked slightly amused. "I take it you people have led interesting lives."**

** Foaly poked his head out of the TARDIS. "Good news. Computer says there's a human signal coming from a Terminal Point in the head."**

** Trouble frowned. "How far is the head from here?"**

** "Quite a short ways away!" Doctor 1 yelled from the control panel, No.1 and Foaly by his side. "Yet I duely suggest you not dilly-dally!"**

** The Doctor, or Doctor 11, as he should be known, nudged himself between Butler and Holly. "Right then. The three of us will go get Artemis; the rest of you, divide and destroy as much as you can. We'll only have a short amount of time before Davros pinpoints where we are."**

** And with that, the three of them ran off. Juliet and the fairies were left being stared at by a gaggle of aliens. "Alrighty" Juliet beamed. "Now, the best way to go about this is-"**

** FWOOOOOOOOSSSHH! Juliet turned to see a giant tendril go up in flames, Luskar licking his lips in satisfaction. Suddenly, the entire room contracted and quivered; the great beast could feel its' insides burning.**

** Luskar turned to Juliet. "The **_**best way**_** is the easy way." And, turning his back to everyone, bgan to spray fire everywhere. Mulch, not wanting to be left out, ran up beside a metal terminal and took a huge bite, which he immediately spat out.**

** "This entire room tastes like crap"**

** Doctor 2 turned to Doctors 3 and 4, and whispered; "We've certainly aquianted ourself with interesting people, haven't we?"**

** "Most interesting indeed" said 4.**

** "And I have a feeling, gentlemen, that the meetings will be quite eventful" said 3. Then, not wanting to feel left out, ran to a tendril and let loose a Venusian Judo Swing Chop.**

** "HAI!"**

** While the others amused themselves with carnage, the Doctor, Holly, and Butler were running down corridors, according to the directions of Foaly, safe inside the TARDIS and communicating by radio.**

** "Now" the centaurs' voice came crackling over the radio, "hang a left, then a right..."**

** Left...right...**

** "...And continue down, then another left should put you-"**

** "DOWN" Butler hissed. The Doctor and Holly immediately fell against the wall, inches from the turn. The Doctor took a small mirror out of his pocket, and through it saw two Drones guarding the door. **

** "What do we do?" Holly whispered.**

** The Doctor put a finger to his lips, and, when the human and the fairy had quieted and shrunk themselves against the corridor, walked brazenly into the view of the Daleks.**

** The red Drones spurred to life. "THE DOCTOR! THE DOCTOR! INFORM LORD DAVROS, THE DOCTOR HAS-"**

** "Oh, stuff it, you prudes" The Doctor snapped. "No need to tell Davros what he doesn't need to know." He edged closer to the Drones. "I mean, really, this is an oppurtunity of your lifetimes, yes? To get to meet me, The Doctor, in the flesh. It's like seeing Bigfoot riding the Loch Ness Monster for Daleks isn't it? And I've seen that happening, so I know you must be feeling some sort of twisty turning emotional-"**

** "SILENCE!" the first Drone boomed. "YOU WILL SURRENDER YOURSELF FOR CAPTURE, OR BE EXTERMINATED!"**

** "Really?" said The Doctor. "Well, that's odd, because I can't surrender to guards sleeping on the job." And with a flourish, he stuck his sonic screwdriver under the grill of the first Drone, and with a WHIIIIIIIIR, the Drone fell silent. And before the second could react, he did the same.**

** Pocketting his screwdriver, he looked at the Daleks. "Isn't 'Don't speak to The Doctor' the first thing they teach you in training?"**

** Holly emerged from the corridor, brandishing a mini Neutrino, lest the Daleks wake up. "You know," she said, "they could've just shot you as soon as you stepped out."**

** The Doctor's face went blank for a second, and then; "Oh. Yes, I guess they could have done that."**

** Butler stepped out, rolling his eyes. The three of them moved to the door, and with a quick sonic-ing, it slid open to reveal...**

** "Oh, gods."**

** There was Artemis, hanging from a rats nest of veins plugged into his spine, staring like a zombie at a mulitude of holographic screens. The air was so humid, sweat beads began forming on all their foreheads.**

** The Doctor approached very slowly. "Now, we have to go about this very carefully... they've...**_**integrated **_**him."**

** Butler notice the twinge in the man's voice. "'Integrated' meaning how much damage could be done to him?"**

** "Death. If done improperly. If done properly, then...he should be safe. I would like to stress emphasis on the 'should', because...during the War, Time Lords we found in the Dalek labs always died either way, of course with a few very lucky exceptions."**

** Holly moved in close. "Do it."**

** The Doctor looked at her. "I can't just yank him out, Holly. That could-"**

** Holly looked at him. "Do it. Trust me."**

** The Doctor looked at Butler, who nodded, knowing what Holly was going to do. Out came the sonic again, and, with slight reluctance, turned it on the terminal.**

** A flash of colours, a shower of sparks, and Artemis dropped out of his nest with a SCHLUCK, and began to scream in pain. "YRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGH!"**

** Holly moved quickly, grabbing his head to stop him thrashing, and poured all the magic she could into him. "Heal' she whispered.**

** Blue sparks exploded from her fingertips, and wove their ways down the body of Artemis Fowl, sinking ito his skin, until he stopped thrashing and his screams died out into a whimper. He laid like a rag doll in the arms of the captain, his friends gathered around him. Then, a fluttering of eyes and;**

** "I'll be dammed. You did all come for me."**

** Holly felt like crying. "Of course we did, you stupid Mud Boy. You know how boring our lives would be if you died?"**

** Artemis managed a weak smile. "I can. It's horrifying."**

** Butle picked up his young friend and master, helping him stand on his weak legs. "It's good to see you too, Artemis. Now, we need to get out of here before-"**

** CCCCRRRRRCHHH. The radio sprang to life on Holly's belt. She brought it to her face and said "Foaly, this is Short, Over. We found him."**

** But instead of Foaly's voice coming over the speaker to congratulate them and pat his own back for the part he played, out came the voice of Doctor 8. "That's all well and good, but, not to one up you, we think we found something more important."**

** The Doctor snatched the radio out of Hollys' hand. "What did you find?"**

** "The Gates. We found where Davros is keeping The Gates of Elysium."**


	22. Ch 21

**Chapter 21:**

**Standing Roughly Five Feet from the Gates of Hell**

** The word "Massive" was first used in the 15th century, having being basterdized from the the French word "mascif", itself an alteration of the Latin word "massa". In all iterations, the word denotes a certain scale of size and/or grandeur. Indeed, one might call the Nightmare Child massive, as in "a massive mote in the eye of any loving god". But as Artemis Fowl stumbled his still weakened frame into the Gate Room of the Nightmare Child, it struck him how the word "massive" was rendered utterly useless in the presence of the Gates of Elysium. "**_**A whole new adjective needs to be created to describe what I'm seeing" **_**he thought.**

** The Doctor had explained on the way to the Gates that "Davros couldn't possibly hope to hold the Gates inside this bloody fish thing of his, so he's using Time Lord dimension technology (that he probably stole off of me, I might add). This whole ship's like the TARDIS: bigger on the inside."**

** It struck Holly, Butler, and Artemis as completely stupid that this giant ship-beast could be bigger on the inside, but they rounded a corner to be greeted by an ajar door way leading to the Gate Chamber.**

** The Chamber was easily the size of Ireland in its entirety; it was simply a giant grey room of nothing, stretching far beyond the line of human or fairy sight. Of course, the people could only move about fifteen metres into the room, for the rest of the massive room was taken up by an almost-as-massive green block, covered in intricate symbols (the only remaining piece of the Eternal's incomprehensible language). Upon first laying eyes on the block, Butler's skin went white for the first time since he was five, and he swore like a drunken sailor.**

** "I know, right?" yelled Juliet, bouncing echoes through the chamber. The rest of their motly group had converged near them, close to the front face of the Gates. Butler grabbed Artemis by the shoulders and hefted him and Holly onto his large back, and sprinted towards the group, leaving the Doctor to play catch up.**

** Luskar, No.1 and Trouble approach Holly as she disembarked the manservant. "Anything follow you back?" Trouble asked, hand on his Neutrino. Holly shook her head.**

** "Nothing. We left a bunch of knocked out guards on the way here, so we've got time before an alarm goes off."**

** Luskar nodded, and motioned for the Doctor to join his past selves. "They say they got a plan; figured you might understand what they're saying better than us."**

** No.1 rolled his eyes at the Doctor. "Peasants" he groaned. "They have such a hard time with the basics". The Doctor nodded in agreement.**

** The Doctor (Doctor 11), scooted over to himselves; "Apparently you all have a plan?"**

** Doctor 10 nodded. "Several, actually. I say that if you get the demon boy to send us back, we can all get our TARDISes, then, if we open the Vortex Engines, we can blow the Gates back some time where Davros can't find it-"**

** "AND risk blowing a hole in the fabric of reality" intoned Doctor 5. "Must I remind you about Belgium?"**

** Doctor 10 scrunched his face. "No, but I really don't see any-"**

** "I say we find the Dimension Capsid, and shrink this place down" injected Doctor 1. "The Horde can't do any damage if it can't get out of the Gate entrance."**

** Doctor 6 let out an audible "PSSSH". "Why bother shrinking it? Why not just invert the Capsid and crunch the thing into oblivion? It'd be better, speaking for the long term."**

** "Do you even comprehend the concept of the Gates?" grunted Doctor 9. "Try and 'crunch' something like that and you've got an energy explosion the size of-"**

** "-Belgium?" Doctor 5 provided.**

** "-that'll tear Earth to pieces" 9 finished.**

** "I'm in the boat to agree with rainbow coat" said Doctor 4. "If we could just find a way to-"**

** "Do what?" said Doctor 3. "Cause a Vortex disturbing explosion? Because that's what you're suggesting. I hope you reliaze that.**

** Doctor 2 threw his hat in the ring. "Better than leaving the Horde to destroy everything", which Doctor 1 followed with an infallible "Quite!".**

** Doctor 8 stepped into the ring. "That makes no sense. The Eternals may have built this thing, but the Time Lords are the ones who utilised it to trap the Horde. Wouldn't it make sense then, that it would work for us? Why do we need to destroy it?"**

** Doctor 11 stepped up. "The bio-metrics would still work, yeah, but you need at least **_**fifteen **_**Time Lords working in unision, minds all connected to the Matrix, **_**and **_**that's excluding the power of the Time Vortex you need to be pumping into the Gates to make it work. Last I checked, we had one TARDIS, no Matrix, and eleven Time Lords, who technically only make up one Time Lord, so that's cheating."**

** "My, my. Someone's been studying, hasn't he?"**

** Doctor 11 shrugged. "Not much to do when you're on your own."**

** Mulch threw his hands up in the air, for what seemed like the third time that night. "So that's it then? Earth is done, yeah? Well then, you fellows mind if we get a ride to the nearest planet when we're done here? I **_**know**_** they've got mines on other planets..."**

** Holly, not able to muster the energy to tell Mulch to shut up, simply swatted the back of his head. "What Mulch means is, is there really nothing that you all can think of that doesn't involve Earth blowing up?"**

** "Yeah" Foaly added, twiddling his thumbs, "no explosions would be nice."**

** All the Doctors looked at himself on the right, then the left, then right across, and then back to the young fairy woman all shaking their heads. "Best scenario", said Doctor 11, "is that maybe we can blow up the Child before Davros can turn on the Gates..." he fell silent after that. It just occured to him that this is what helplessness felt like. But then-**

** "Why can't we work the Gates?"**

** All eyes turned to Artemis Fowl, who was sitting in the Lotus Position down on the flor, hands on temples. In the discourse between the Doctor's, Artemis had been largely forgotten, left to his own while the others listened to the options presented. So he listened too, but with an advantage; the knowledge bequeathed to him from the Nightmare Child. And so he listened, and calculated, and thought.**

** "You say that we need at least fifteen of your people. We have the eleven of you, which is a start. And from what I gathered from my time in that harness, we could easily pull off control with less, given that the power is 100% yet."**

** "We still need the Time Vortex" argued Doctor 7.**

** "And the Matrix, which, might I add, was destroyed when Galifrey went up in flames" added Doctor 9.**

** Doctor 1 looked astonished. "Up in flames?"**

** Artemis ignored him. "We have both of those things" he said, motioning with his hands to No.1. **

** The little demon pointed to himself. "Me?"**

** Artemis nodded. "We already know that you can connect their minds with your magic-"**

** "Magic?" Doctor 10 said, incredulous.**

** Artemis ignored him as well. "-which means you can serve as the Matrix, with your power keeping you stable. If we then pour your magic into the TARDIS engine, then we've got a makeshift Vortex."**

** "But even with the boy, we're still two people short for a conduit" Doctor 3 argued.**

** Artemis shook his head. "Not at all. With No.1 acting as the focal point, all we'd really need to supplement are two people who know how to work magic."**

** What Artemis was saying finally dawned on Foaly. "That's suicide", he blurted. "You have no idea what'll happen to someone if they try to connect with that thing if it isn't predisposed to-"**

** "That's why I'm the next person." **

** The Butlers both choked on the stale air at the same time. So in-sync were they at the ludicrousity of Artemis' plan, they began speaking at the same time. "You can't be serious..."**

** "I am" Artemis said, rather forcefully. "I just spent the last couple hours doing nothing but running calculations for this 'thing'. If anything, by default I'm the **_**most **_**qualified person to be probing into its workings."**

** Holly couldn't argue with that logic. Of course, that still left one person needed for the magic number fifteen. She looked at Artemis, but didn't say anything, knowing exactly what he was thinking. **_**"Some time, I'm going to lock myself in my apartment and practice saying no to these stupid plans". **_**And with that, she stepped up beside her friend. "And me makes fifteen."**

** Trouble stamped (actually stamped) his foot. "NOT happening, Short. The three of us make up what's left of the LEP squad for this whole thing. No way am I sacrificing one of my best for something that **_**he", **_**the elf pointed to Artemis, "is pulling out of his ass."**

** "Something pulled out of his ass that I'm not even sure is going to work" Foaly added.**

** Mulch swatted at the centaur. "They wanna save the world, and you say no? What the hell, Foaly. And here I was starting to think you might actually be cool..."**

** The Doctor (number 11), decided to ignore the banter and turned to Artemis. "That might actually work. Considering it's the best option right now, I say we take a chance." He turned to his former selves. "Now gents, which one of us wants to make the run back to the TARDIS to bring it here?"**

** Doctor 10 pulled his TARDIS key out of his pocket, and pressed it. Immediately, the groaning of the engines filled the ears of everyone present.**

** "Right. Forgot about that" said 11, looking rather sheepish. With the TARDIS now fully formed, he ran to the doors and flew them open, running around the console collecting thingamabobs and doohickys galore. "Hopefully, this is the part where everything starts going good" he yelled. "Ancient warship, army of Daleks, genocidal wheelchair man, horde of voracious space monsters? No way this could get any worse."**

** Mulch swore under his breath. Years of watching human television taught him that when someone said 'it couldn't get worst', the universe seemed to make sure that things immediately got worse.**

** And yes, things were about to get worse. **


	23. Ch 22

**Chapter 22:**

**A Very Brief Calm Before A Very Large Storm**

**In all the hubris that had been compressed into the very brief span of time in which our heroes had undertaken to save Artemis, a very important question had slipped from their minds; "Whatever had happened to Agent Raymond Stockard and the troll Ghor?"**

** Where indeed? They all but dissapeared since Artemis' abduction. Perhaps Davros had paid them their wages, shook their hands, congratulated them on a job well done and sent them on their seperate paths. Perhaps they left together, to pursue a partnership as soldiers of fortune, specializing in the strangest of missions; helping the innocent to atone for their horrible misdeeds?**

** Or, as what was actually the case, they were still aboard the Nightmare Child, in the Bridge with Davros, watching the video footage streaming live from the Gate Room. "Oh, this is so very much like the Doctor" Davros seethed. "That old fool never had any respect for his people's rules. Of course he would find his past selves; the only men in the universe who could stand his infuriating-"**

** Stockard cleared his throat, loudly and forcefully, to cut off his employer. "I gotta live on this ship for a good few months, and already I'm getting a headache from your temper tantrums. Not a good precedence for our working relationship."**

** Ghor tensed and growled. "You DARE-!"**

** Davros shot his hand up to silence the troll. "Insubordination from one of my Daleks, Mr. Stockard, would result in immediate extermination. What makes you think you're any different?"**

** "I'm not a screeching tin can, most likely. That, and the fact that you and I are done when this is all over. I've got no problem burning bridges; ask my ex-wife, she can attest to that in triplicate."**

** Davros chuckled. "I'll do no such thing, but you make a point." The leader of the Daleks turned and moved to the control head of the Bridge. "Supreme!" he barked, "how close are we to opening the Gates?"**

**The white Supreme swiveled its eye stalk to face its master.**** "THE GATES OF ELYSIUM WILL BE AT 100% CAPACITY IN FIFTEEN EARTH STANDARD MINUTES"**** it boomed.**

** "Wonderful." Davros turned back around to face Stockard and Ghor. "You have fifteen minutes to dispose of the Doctor and his gaggle of misfits. Any more and the Gates will open with you in the room; the Horde of Travesties will find two small morsels to sate itself before it finds the Earth."**

** Ghor and Stockard nodded. Stockard took, loaded, and cocked his pistols in one swift, practiced motion. Ghor unclasped the Neutrino off his back. The two of them turned and made their way to the door.**

** "If you fail, Mud Squiggler" Ghor whispered, "the master will not have a chance to punish you; your skull will be drapsed around my neck along with the Time Lords'."**

** "Bite me, Snaggletooth" Stockard hissed back. "Worry about yourself. Damn near incredible that the old prune found enough brains in that pile of upholstery to work with."**

** And with that, the door closed behind them.**

** Davros turned his gaze down to the video screen. Whatever the Doctor was doing, it wouldn't matter; no matter how the fool tried, the Horde would get its way. It ALWAYS got its way.**

** The mad creator flung his hands in the air, and screamed to his creations. "My Daleks! Rejoice!" For this day, the Doctor falls! This day, the Earth will be razed from creation! REJOICE!**

**"REJOICE! REJOICE! REJOICE! THE EARTH FALLS!"**


	24. Ch 23

**Chapter 23:**

**The Plan is Given the Go-Ahead**

** Foaly prided himself on, among other things, his mathematic ability. So when artemis detailed his plan for destroying the Gates of Elysiu, he quickly realized a flaw; Artemis said the fifteen people were required to work the Gate, but he, Holly, No.1 and the Doctors made only fourteen. However; when he chose to divulge this numerical innaccuracy;**

** "Oh. I just assumed that you knew you'd be joining us" was the explanation given, retorted by a string of Centaur curse words not publishable in a family text. **

** "Dear lord, Foaly" Artemis huffed. "Surely you had no intention of staying out of this? Your mind is the only one here who has an advanced grasp on magic's scientific components equal to that of No.1; we need you-"**

** Foaly waggled his finger. "Don't you dare try to butter me up, Mud Whelper. There is no fu-"**

** Holly put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Foaly, please. If Artemis says we need you, we definately need you." She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Be flattered; you know how he hates asking for help."**

** Foaly was at a loss. The reason he loved his job in the LEP (other that a fat paystub and freedom to do whatever he wanted with his over-inflated budget) was that he never had to do anything that might physically hurt him. Pain was something he made a life's promise to avoid, and being linked to a giant hell-gate was bound to leave a few mental bruise, if not physical ones. Risk your tail connecting to the Gate, or let the Earth be eaten?**

** Foaly whinnied, and threw his arms in the air. "Fine. But I want a carton of apples when we get back."**

** Artemis crossed his fingers over his heart. "Stand over here, please." He motioned to in front of the Gate.**

** The eleven Doctors were standing in a circle, backs straight and heads held high, no more than a few inches apart. Foaly trotted over, as did Holly and Artemis, the three friends filling out the circle. No.1 stood in the center, his attention focused on the Gates.**

** Doctor 11 took the time to explain the plan in detail. "The Eternals utilized energy to operate every facet of their civilization; medicine, agriculture, warfare, etc. Therefore, if we use your magic to interface with the Gates-"**

** No.1 nodded, not saying anything, understanding fully what he needed to do. He sat on the floor, and bowed his head. Ancient chants slipped from his lips, blue sparks crackling at the tips of his horns. Soon, his eyes were glowing a bright neon blue, and his sitting form raised from the floor, never breaking the meditation pose.**

** "Oh my giddy aunt" whispered Doctor 2. "Absolutely extraordinary."**

** Artemis looked over his shoulder to the entrance. Butler, Juliet, Trouble, Luskar, and Mulch (held there by Butler's imposing figure) were all guarding the door, guns ready. No Dalek would be getting through there without a fight. Butler looked over his shoulder to catch the gaze of his employer.**

** The two old friends communicated much in that brief gaze; things even this author doesn't even know. But the message was clear' "**_**Don't you go dying on me".**_

** CRAAAAAK! Blue energy everywhere! Just as Artemis least expected it, the magic leapt from No.1's horns and ran through him like a current. It passed through him to Holly, to Foaly, to the succession of Doctors. The room spun, the lights seemed to flicker, and all any in the circle could see was white...**

** A giant white space is where the circle stood, completely detached from the physical world at the moment. **

** Doctor 9 seemed a little dissapointed. "This is it?"**

** No.1 shook his glowing head. "That was the connection part. The actual interface should be coming-"**

**WHAM!**

** "-now."**

** Memories rushed into the heads of the fifteen participants, mizing and churning, overlapping with each other to create a tapestry; a story so grand it could never possibly be reproduced.**

** Holly marveled at all the images filling her gaze. Spaceships and monsters, so many men and women...she was amazed that the Doctor could keep track of his history.**

** No.1 surveyed his friends awed expressions, and cut the visual feast out with a swift (and surprisingly loud) CRACK of his stumpy little neck. "Ready?"**

** Doctor 2 rubbed his eyes. "Give me a minute, wouldn't you?"**

** "Magnificent" breathed Doctor 7, "absolutely magnificent."**

** Doctor 11 turned his gaze to Artemis and the fairies. "It's fascinating, finally finding people who can relate to the pace of my life."**

** Artemis chuckled, thinking how he would have made the same remark. He looked at his demon friend. "Mr. Warlock, I believe we're ready to begin."**

** No.1 nodded his head, and resumed his pose. "**_**Mr. Warlock"**_** he thought to himself, **_**"I actually quite like that. Maybe that's what I'll get the freshmen at the college to call me."**_

_** "I think that's a splendid idea."**_

__**Evidently, No.1 had forgotten that everyone in the group could now hear each other's thoughts.**

** His green scales turning a light shade of red, No.1 began to chant again. In the empty white behind the group, a shape began to emerge; a giant thing wisping into existence. The great Gates...now was the time to work**

** ...**

** "Well. That doesn't look terrifying" Mulch remarked.**

** The group was now a pulsating circle of blue, energy running from one body to the other, hands outstretched and lightning passing from fingertip to fingertip. The heads of the participants were thrown back, eyes glowing a brilliant shade of white.**

** "If it unnerves you, then don't look" Luskar growled, Neutrino resting on his shoulder. "Focus on the door that the trash bin things will most likely try to go through."**

** Butler too found himself gawking like Mulch. It once again amazed him how very little this situation seemed to faze him. It appeared to him that he had developed an immunity to being shocked these last few years; it took nothing less than a giant fish in the sky to knock up his heartbeat. **

** But of course, being a Butler, he cursed himself for getting completative. Now was not the time to relfect on life. "Best have someone look behind us" he said to Luskar. "All we know, this place could have mouse holes everywhere for those things to pop up."**

** "Then just shoot them when they do, Dom" Juliet said. She cocked Holly's Neutrino. "Just like Whack-a-Mole."**

** Trouble stared at her. "No, not just like 'Whack-a-Mole', whatever the hell that is. These things decimated an entire LEP battalion in one motion; just shooting at them won't do anything."**

** "Yeah, kid" Mulch said, imitating Trouble. "Just shooting won't do anything." He turned to glare at Trouble. "Then why are we standing around like we're trying to shoot them?" **

** Trouble glared back at the dwarf. "We are a distraction here to buy them time. If we have to go down to do that, then I'm fine with it."**

** Mulch simply shrugged and mumbled, evidently not caring about what was said. He swore to himself he would move straight back to Miami when this was done, if he didn't die; not even one Christmas card to these lunatics and their end-times shenanigans.**

** The stoic group of five stood at the ready, weapons up and eyes focused. ON their lives, nothing would harm the circle until the job-**

**BANG!**


End file.
